Page 47 - Seniorstoday May 2024 Issue

Films

The Most Inspiring Films On

Visual Impairment

Image courtesy: koimoi

Hindi cinema, has, over the years made several films with blind characters,
the plots mostly using them for sympathy and melodrama, but there are
some which are unusual and inspiring, writes Deepa Gahlot

The recent release Srikanth, stars cannot be with her! One of the best films
Rajkummar Rao as a visually impaired with a visually impaired protagonist, was
character, based on real-life entrepreneur, one in which he was pretending—Sriram
Srikanth Bolla. It is the story of amazing Raghavan’s superb thriller, Andhadhun
determination and never taking no for an (2018)
answer. He legally challenged the then Here’s a pick of ten films, which
rule that did not allow visually challenged portrayed visual impairment in an
students to take up science, a scholarship to unusual or inspiring way:
MIT in the US, and setting up a successful Kinara (1977):
business. Hindi cinema has, over the years
made several films with blind characters,
the plots mostly using them for sympathy,
melodrama or for the male lead to play
saviour. Films like Dosti (1964), Chirag
(1969), Anuraag (1972), Jheel Ke Us Paar
(1973) come to mind. To top of the weepie
heap is Nitin Bose’s Deedar (1951), in
which a blind man played by Dilip Kumar,
undergoes successful treatment, but when
he finds that his childhood sweetheart Written and directed by Gulzar, this film
is married to another, he blinds himself starred Jeetendra, who was often criticized
again, rather than live in a world where he for his inability to act. Inder is besieged

SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #59 | MAY 2024 47