Hail Bollywood

Recent trend in Bollywood, is to explore rare diseases, the welcoming change is superstars taking up the cause by playing the meaty roles creating awareness about these lesser-known diseases not only entertain their audiences but also enlightens them.


It was "Taare Zameen Par" [2007], which revolves around an eight-year-old boy suffering from 'dyslexia'. The disease is about dealing with spelling, learning, decoding the word, reading accurately and fluently. In addition, the movie was a super hit. This movie forced parents to come out in open and highlighted that their child might be having the potential to shine well with hidden talents. All they need to do is to recognise and nurture them in the right direction. The credit goes to Aamir Khan.

It was "U Me Aur Hum" [2008], Ajay Devgan came up with the not known much disease Alzheimer’s. It is a brain disorder named after German physician .It is a progressive and fatal brain disease and which has no cure so far. This irreversible, progressive brain disease slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks.

Amitabh Bachhan came out with the movie "Black" released in 2005 was also about a blind, deaf girl and her teacher who succumbs to Alzheimer's.

Later followed by "Ghajini" [2008] in which the character of Aamir Khan suffers from Amnesia. Amnesia makes the diseased forgetful with a short-term memory for a few minutes.

In December 2009, Mr. Amitabh Bacchan acted as a child suffering from a rarest disease Progeria in movie "Paa". Progeria is an accelerated aging disease, while leaving intelligence intact. It ages the body many times rapidly than normal. The average life expectancy for a child with Progeria ranges from 10 yrs to 23 yrs.

The audience is eagerly waiting for "My name is Khan" in February 2010 starring Shah Rukh Khan who suffers from the disease Asperger’s Syndrome). It is a kind of autism and a neurobiological disorder, giving way for difficulty in social interaction. The person suffering from this has normal intelligence and language development, but behaves like an autistic with deficiencies in social and communication skills.

As a lame person, I encourage this new trend set up by Bollywood. [I hope the southern film industry takes a leaf out of this] It has enlightened many about these rare diseases, and created awareness among the parents.