Mind & Heart

Mona

With little love and patience, nothing is impossible; filmmaker Vishaal Nityanand firmly believes in this adage. Telling humanitarian stories is his one-line agenda. As the screening of his film Life Flows On brought Vishaal to the city, he shares what makes him predisposed towards raising awareness on mental health and much more.

He remembers how a man’s death in a park next to his office in Hauz Khas, Delhi, made him aware of Alzheimer’s. “This man used to wander in the park, his family had been trying to locate him for five-six months. He had lost his memory; it’s the death that finally united them.”

The unfortunate incident left an indelible mark on Vishaal, who already had documentaries Kosi River, Farmers in High Tech World and Jaltantra: Foodplains for Livelihoods and Biodiversity in North Bihar to his credit.

Staggering stats

“It’s rather sad that we do not take mental health issues sensitively,” says Vishaal. He was zapped when one of the policy-makers reflected, ‘Why waste resources on unproductive people’. He knew that in the West, dementia is taken rather seriously and facilities are in place to take care of such patients. “The situation is so grave that the Indian census 2010 lists 45 million dementia patients in the country while around the world the figure stands at a staggering 45 million.” 

Lens eye

What followed was his film Life Flows On, shot mainly in Landour, near Mussoorie. The film stars British actress Allegra Dunnand and the late actor Tom Alter. “The idea is not only to create awareness, but also tell it in an entertaining manner that shows hope by the end of the dark tunnel.”

The feedback has left him enthused. “While the film was way more appreciated in the West in countries like Norway than India, now there are dementia care facilities in our own country as well,” he says. His next is a 50-episode series that deals with mental health issues. “On the eve of World Alzheimer’s Day, it was great to screen Life Flows On at the Chitkara University. Youngsters can make all the difference.”

Touching stories on dementia

• The Notebook tops the list; it is a story by Nicholas Spark, enacted by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams for its screen adaptation. A summer romance, separation, building life together to an elderly husband caring for his wife who has forgotten it all...a heart-rending story derives home message of true love, despite the handicap. James Garner as Old Noah sitting on bench reading to his Ellie (Gena Rowlands) by the lake is an image that says a thousand words!
• Closer home, in a story of urban relationships OK Jaanu touches the topic with the track of Leela Samson and Naseeruddin Shah. They play landlords to young lovers - Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor. As the senior couple navigates life with the wife battling Alzheimer’s, one gets sentimental! It is a remake of Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film ‘O Kadhal Kanmani’. 
• Still Alice is another story about a woman Alice Howland, a linguistics professor who struggles with early onset of Alzheimer’s. Alice is played by Julianne Moore and the film captures her struggle. 

n Iris is another husband-wife story where the latter suffers from Alzheimer’s. Played by Judi Dench, it has for its heart Jim Broadbent, who enacts a devoted husband struggling with hopelessness and frustration. A message of hope, this one relays.