📅 19th October 2025
📍Bangalore International Center
Cinema has immense power to shape societal narratives around mental health, meaningful, accurate portrayals are not yet mainstream. Last year at Manotsava 2024, a panel discussion explored how Indian cinema is beginning to move beyond stereotypes, shifting from sensationalism to more empathetic, everyday depictions that normalize therapy, emotional vulnerability, and recovery. Meaningful, intentional representation on the silver screen can encourage open conversations, challenge stigma, reshape public perception, and become a force for social change.
As a lead-up to the next edition of Manotsava – RNP, NIMHANS & NCBS are putting together a film showcase that will explore mental health through contemporary Indian cinema, offering audiences a view into diverse psychological experiences and societal perspectives.
This film showcase will be held at the Bangalore International Centre on 19th October, 2025.
Alongside the film festival, joining us is the wonderful team from Bookworm, who will be curating a stall featuring books on mental health, brain sciences, and related themes!
These films will also be screened at the Mental Health Santhe on 17th & 18th October, 2025 at the NIMHANS Convention Centre.
Registrations will open soon.
11:00 AM
Khidki
16 mins | Hindi with English subtitles
Director: Anhad Mishra
Khidki tells the moving story of an elderly man whose closest bond is with the world outside his window. Alone in a city that has left him behind, he finds comfort in its everyday rhythms. But when he must leave the home—and the view—that has sustained him for years, he confronts a devastating question: can he survive without the only thing keeping him alive?
11:20 AM
Dhoosar
1 hr 40 min | Marathi with English subtitles
Director: Amol Palekar
Dhoosar traces the emotional journey of a daughter who returns home to find her mother battling Alzheimer’s. As the illness reshapes memory and identity, it also transforms the bonds of family, revealing the quiet struggles and shifting realities of those left to cope.
2:30 PM
Invisible Chains
18 min | Kannada with English subtitles
Director: Maya Chandra
Invisible Chains is a documentary under the “Drug-Free Karnataka” (Nashe Mukta Karnataka) campaign—an initiative by the Karnataka State Police with MAYA Films and Manipal Foundation. Through first-person accounts, it portrays the impact of substance use on mental, physical, and emotional health. With insights from experts and legal voices, it highlights the challenges of recovery and the consequences of drug-related offenses, while calling for greater awareness and collective action.
3:00 PM
Enso
30 min | Kannada with English subtitles
Director: Megha Havanje
Enso is the story of a father and daughter navigating the trauma of an unexpected loss, as they search for healing and a way forward together.
3:45 PM
Swagatam
45 min | Hindi with English subtitles
Director: Sukriti Tyagi
Swagatam follows the lives of a young married couple in a small Maharashtrian town. When the husband, living with schizophrenia, wishes to attend his friend’s wedding, the film offers a sensitive look at his experience—moving beyond the usual stereotypes to portray the everyday realities of living with the condition.
4:40 PM
Margarita with a Straw
2 hr 20 min | English & Hindi with English subtitles
Director: Shonali Bose
Margherita with a Straw tells the story of a young woman—romantic at heart and a quiet rebel—who navigates life in a wheelchair with unshaken spirit. Living with cerebral palsy, she sets out on a journey of sexual discovery that challenges her relationships and her sense of self. In the midst of these conflicts, she ultimately finds strength in the depth of her closest bonds.