Gulshan Devaiah calls out Nawazuddin Siddiqui over his statement on mental health
Gulshan Devaiah and Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Actor Gulshan Devaiah has slammed Nawazuddin Siddiqui over his statement on depression. Siddiqui, in a recent interview, claimed that depression is an urban concept born out of privilege. Days later, the actor reiterated his statement and said if he spoke of mental health in his native village, he would be thrashed.
Speaking to NDTV, Nawazuddin recently said, "I was just narrating my experience. It’s possible I’m wrong. But even today, if I were to go to my village, which is just three hours away, and say that I have depression, I’d get slapped. They’d tell me to eat food and go to the fields."
When he was asked if people in rural India weren't aware of conversations around mental health, the actor said, “It doesn’t exist. Nobody knows about it, nobody has depression in villages. It’s a fact, go check."
“You see, in cities, people have the habit of glorifying even the smallest problems. Why don’t they see how people with real problems live their lives? Look how they dance on footpaths in the rain, why don’t those people have depression?” the actor added.
Gulshan calls out Nawazuddin
The actor's comments on mental health did not go down well with Gulshan Devaiah who took to Twitter and slammed Siddiqui. “Dritharashtra & Gandhari syndrome. I immensely respect the man for his craft but I’d not take him seriously on this issue. If you even just look at alcoholism or addictions, they exist in rural communities and that’s mental illness. No addict indulges in addiction because they love it. The addiction is a symptom, the real problem is the trauma they can’t heal," he wrote.
Gulshan Devaiah further clarified that even though he does not have a rural upbringing, he has “close family members who grew up in villages and have very problematic behaviour because they didn’t process their trauma properly and they pass it on to others."
What was Nawazuddin's original statement on mental health?
The actor, whose film Jogira Sara Ra Ra is releasing this week, spoke to Mashable India and said, “I come from a place where if I would tell my father that I am feeling depressed, he would give me one tight slap… Depression waha nahi tha, kisi ko bhi nahi hota waha depression, sab khush hai (No one gets depression in villages, everyone is happy there). But I learnt about anxiety, depression, bipolar after coming to the city.”
