With Mental Health Day being recognised this week across the world, rapper Aditya Parashar’s song Sharapanjara from Bhinna is a much-needed track that spreads awareness about the monstrosity of mental illness. The track is crooned by Aditya and Vandita Narayan for Adarsh Eshwarappa’s latest film Bhinna, which is centered around schizophrenia. “I’ve worked with Adarsh before for Shuddhi and when he sent me the script of Bhinna, I absolutely loved it. The theme was related to what I wanted to portray in my next song, and we thought it’s a good marriage to happen, artistically. I am glad that we were able to create such rich and unique Kannada content.”
The song speaks about the voices in our heads that influence us and bear an impact on us. “The rap is a conversation between the angel and the demon within a woman who suffers from schizophrenia. The hook speaks of how the woman is trapped in a cage of her own self-crippling thoughts, and how the voices in her head mess with her sanity while the verses voice the demon inside her who represents the negativity in her. The song is aimed at throwing light on how our greatest enemies can be our own voices within us,” reveals Aditya.
In what way does he feel art and artistes can influence the general public in speaking up about mental health? “Mental health awareness is absolutely needed since many of us, exclusive of how educated we are, don’t even recognise or treat it as a significant issue. Many times, mental illness is carelessly categorised under insanity or ‘just a sad mood’,” states Aditya, who’s glad that talking about mental health has now moved towards the public sphere from private, hush-hush chats.
With numerous celebrities like Deepika Padukone and Anushka Sharma speaking up about their mental health, Aditya feels that artistes need to throw more light towards awareness, using the reach they have on social media and offline. “Through our content, we need to educate people about the importance of self-care and self-love. We need to spread more positivity through our creations, and let people know that seeking help is absolutely okay and infact, necessary.”
