When 23-year-old Harshit Bansal (based out of Delhi) was going through a bad phase of mental health, he didn’t know that his love for films will help him out of it. Talking to The Hindu, Bansal was quoted as – “I’ve always had a very personal relationship with films. But two years ago, when my mental health was at its worst, watching my favourite film or TV show used to make me feel better. I think films have the potential to evoke emotions and induce empathy like no other medium.”
In a world that seems to be overflowing with a desire to fault cinema and TV for everything that’s wrong with the world, this is a refreshing perspective. “However, it’s important to remember that films are only a temporary medium of escape and professional help should be sought when necessary” – Bansal quickly adds.
What is Mental Health Talks x Humans of Cinema? Humans of Cinema started out as yet another Instagram account that sees Bansal talk about the ‘true spirit’ of movie-viewing, and then he took things to the next level by tying up with Mental Health Talks for a project that invites enthusiasts to speak about films that helped them through the tough times. It’s seen an overwhelming response, as is visible from the sheer number of posts as a part of the initiative.
The posts see testimonials for everyone from Robin Williams’s John Keating from Dead Poet’s Society to Alia Bhatt’s Ananya from Two States. Bansal talks about ‘Cinema therapy’ as a subject, used by many therapists during psychotherapy.
An online commune for cinephiles
Bansal has plans to widen the account’s scope to non-Hindi and International films, which will certainly help the page to become a place for discovering obscure films. Co-owner of the merchandise, Frankly Wearing, Bansal also likes the job of curating the page since it allows him to connect with other cinephiles, who might have an interesting observation about a film or its character. Bansal recounts reading a story on Jaana Tu Ya Jaane Na‘s Meghna (played by Manjiri Phadnis), a character he thought hadn’t been done justice to, that pointed out that letting Jai (played by Imran Khan) go was an act of healing for her.
“A Tamasha fan got in touch with me recently to share how the film helped him muster the courage to leave his job and pursue his passion of writing. I couldn’t not engage in a conversation, considering how the film was a driving force for me to start the page as well. I’ll probably never meet him, but knowing that both of us share such a special relationship with the same film was kind of a comforting thought in itself,” says Bansal.