Encountering the Silent Killer

Today, with the untimely passing away of 34 year-old Sushant Singh Rajput, one of the most finest actors of the younger generation of Bollywood celebrities whose stellar performances in films like "Kai Po Che", "P.K.", "Kedarnath", "Chhichhore" and most notably "M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story" left Indian audiences star-struck and spellbound for the last 7 years or so, we, as a society, find ourselves confronting, once again, the question of how to get over the "silent killer" - suicidal depression. While social media has erupted with posts expressing solidarity and highlighting the need to seriously discuss depression issues faced by anyone openly with near and dear ones, the fear still persists - that this may again turn into a temporary expression of pent up emotions and concerns being expressed on social media platforms in the immediate aftermath of an undesirable event, as has been witnessed for the past several years every time something bad or ugly or untoward happened and stirred the conscience of the civil society and commoners, forcing them to revisit accepted notions and presumptions.

Needless to say, the actual cause of the 6 month long streak of depression that Sushant was going through which ultimately culminated in his untimely departure from the mortal world, if media reports are to be believed, is subject to investigation. However, it may be prudent to visit a few glaring statistics in connection with depression and suicidal tendencies among Indians as observed in recent times. A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that around 6.5% of Indian population suffer from some serious mental disorder. Moreover, on an average, 109 out of every 1 million Indians commit suicide (an alarming average suicide rate), while a majority of the persons committing suicide are below 44 years of age! These statistics are indeed disturbing, and possibly the reasons behind them numerous.

Common Reasons

Some common reasons cited for depression include loneliness, unemployment, societal discrimination, repentance for immoral acts or unethical deeds, domestic violence, frequent disagreements, unexpected betrayal, loss of near and dear ones et al. However, possibly the most dangerous one of all these happens to be loneliness, for it doesn't only include being physically alone at any place, but more dangerously, the inability to confide one's deepest and most often most painful mental thoughts to someone close enough to be trustworthy. In other words, it's important to find someone reliable on whose shoulders one can lay his /her head in his / her most emotionally vulnerable hour - someone who may be a friend or family - whom the person can trust and speak to. It's important to identify at least one such person in everyone's life, for that person also, in turn, finds one person who is worth sharing all his / her deepest thoughts with. And why only person, it may even be a pet dog or some other animal, for animals often display a level of loyalty seldom put forth by human beings.

Depression in the Entertainment industry

To be fair and honest, we cannot restrict depression as being a typical characteristic of any particular industry. It's present in almost all walks of life that we may think of. But to specifically speak of the film and entertainment industry, and more particularly in possibly the last two decades, depression has emerged as a "serial killer". Sushant Singh Rajput is only the latest case in point, but in no ways the "only" one. Typically, any actor, when s/he attains a certain level of fame and stardom, gets used to a certain way of living (often referred to as the "trappings of stardom") and adapting to unexpected disruptions in their career graphs, due to personal reasons or fierce competition from peers or any reason whatsoever, requires in most cases, a substantial bit of "adjustment". Such adjustment may include making sacrifices on your standard of living or even scaling down your ambition, or so to say, "lying low" for some time. In other words, you need to wait for the right opportunity to spring back, but in the mean time you must exhibit resilience and patience.

To point out to possibly the most famous comeback in Bollywood, let's revisit the life of the living "Shahenshah", Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. From being a "One Man Industry" as he was often described in the 1970s and early 80s, Mr. Bachchan saw his career graph in Bollywood slowly dwindling in the late 80s and early 90s with the entry and dominance of the Khans into the industry. A natural phenomenon called ageing, and a not-so-enviable adventure in the muddy waters of Indian politics further contributed to his waning popularity, while the actor found himself in extreme financial crisis with the failure of ABC (Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd.) which churned out a series of box office flops. The actor had enough reason to call it quits in the Entertainment industry, but then some good sense prevailed and he took to sensible suggestions made by acclaimed colleagues of the industry. Mr. Bachchan decided to do more commercial advertisements to ensure continuous cash inflows while taking up every appropriate film offered to him by various production houses. Finally, as they say, "God helps those who help themselves" - luck smiled on him when in 2000, the famous game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati" ("KBC") was aired with Mr. Bachchan as its host, with the show redeeming much of the fame and popularity which Mr. Bachchan saw slipping through his fingers in the past few years since the late 80s. Later on, with his gifted acting prowess shining through in films as diverse as Karan Johar's "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum", Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black", Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's "Pink", Shoojit Sirkar's "Piku", Sujoy Ghosh's "Badla" and even Shoojit Sirkar's latest film released only last Friday, viz. "Gulabo Sitabo", Mr. Bachchan has successfully proved that he is not someone who would sit at home and remorse about all the unfairness life brings with it, but someone who would rather struggle to create and retain new spaces in the hearts of an ever expanding audience, even to this day on its toes to catch the latest "Amitabh Bachchan" flick to hit the box office. He has proved beyond doubt that if you don't get to play titular roles, there are always character roles to fall back upon, and the role notwithstanding, critics and the audience appreciate acting in any role if it touches their hearts. Probably that's the reason why this almost 80 year old man, the creator of "Brand Bachchan" as we may put it, is still a name to reckon with even in this age of "content-driven cinema".

The object of revisiting Mr. Bachchan's inspiring life is not to juxtapose him against a far junior actor with gifted talent like Sushant. It's just to highlight that life may not always be fair to you in all ways, but to choose the easiest way out is just not acceptable. There are myriad more instances to show how the indominable human soul prevails against circumstances which apparently seem to be ruthless and unmanageable. As Sushant's character aptly put it himself in his last film, "Suicide is not the solution." Ironically, he failed to follow what he preached in reel life, in his real life.

A possible way out: Speak up!

No doubt depression is painful, but anyone suffering from it needs to first of all concede that s/he is suffering from it. Thereafter, and most importantly, the person needs to talk, rather speak up - speak to someone s/he can rely upon, someone the person trusts will try his / her level best to help him get out of it, either with or without having to consult a psychiatrist. It may be some friend or family or close confidante who has shown allegiance in past times during times of crises.

Further, it's essential for all of us to recognize, that just as "all that glitters is not gold", in a similar way, not all smiles depict true happiness; rather in most cases, the smiles convincingly disguise the deep pain within. There's no hiding it anymore: the silent killer is on the lose; and while it prowls through numerous lives simultaneously, it's the responsibility of all near and dear ones to ensure that we do not have to further witness the untimely departure of any other promising talent, snatched away like a bolt from the blue striking an unaware and helpless person amidst apparently the most calm weather.