GEO TV’s currently airing drama Jhoom has sparked several conversations-all for the right reasons. On the surface the drama is about a couple in love. However, to the viewer’s surprise, the drama went on to highlight a pressing issue in our society about mental health and the lack of discussion around the topic due to the stigma attached to it.
Despite his debut lead role in a drama, Haroon Kadwani did not take the conventional route of playing a hero with no flaws, instead the actor signed up for a rather challenging role in Jhoom at a young age, especially one that talks about mental health problems.
Through Haroon Kadwani’s character Aryaan, the drama dives deep into addressing mental health issues including anger management and depression. Highlighting anger issues in the character, without glorifying them, the makers have placed emphasis on how imperative it is to address them and seek treatment for it to avoid the gloomy consequences that can follow.
Furthermore, showing a character on-screen that has had depression due to his traumatic past is worth applauding, especially when it is handled with such grace. The drama depicts society’s ill-treatment towards a patient with depression and how it makes it hard for those who are on the journey towards recovery. Like Aryaan says “kabhi aap jeet ker bhi haar jatay hain”-highlighting the turmoil of such individuals.
Why is it worth applauding?
In a society where depression is not considered a real illness and often those who are seeking treatment for it are considered to be ‘insane’ or ‘mad’ and are ridiculed for speaking about it, Aryaan’s character in Jhoom, who is depicted as a hero, is normalizing it for the masses and making depression an acceptable topic to discuss.
According to WHO, 10–16% of general population in Pakistan suffers from mild to moderate psychiatric illnesses in addition to the 1% suffering from severe mental illnesses and a 24 million people in Pakistan are in need of psychiatric assistance.
These facts are alarming, and just reiterate the need to address this matter diligently. When lead actors, who the audience admires and looks up to, take on such roles, the audience is subconsciously encouraged to take these matters seriously and not consider them a taboo. In fact, such narratives in a drama can help someone self-diagnose their mental health problem after which they can reach out to a professional.
Audience Reaction to Haroon Kadwani and Jhoom:
Sharmila Faruqui lauded Geo TV’s Jhoom and Haroon Kadwani’s character in the drama for portraying a much-needed emphasis on mental health and its importance.
Rabia Mughni was also all praises for including the topic of mental health.
The audience showered their love, expressing their delight in seeing a drama talking about depressing and anger management issues.
We are grateful to the makers for starting this discussion via their drama and not selling the mental health plot as their USB while releasing the trailers and also to the actor for taking on this role. We hope to see such progressive plots in the near future as well.
