Rishav Singh
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Pages:257-264
Disability in general, and developmental disabilities in particular, lead to highly
challenging situations in a growing child’s life. Navigating the social stigma surrounding
such disorders can create many additional obstacles to their progress. In this regard,
the manner of portrayal of persons with disabilities in mass media can act as a potent
tool to promote change in attitudes. The present work attempts to explore attitudes
towards developmental disability (in particular, Tourette’s syndrome) depicted in the
Bollywood Hindi-language film “Hichki,” which revolves around the life of Naina Mathur,
an aspiring school teacher with Tourette’s disorder. The method of content analysis
was used to identify instances in the film that corresponded to four specific
subcategories of attitudes toward disability- inclusion, discrimination, gains, and
prospects. These dimensions were identified from the Attitudes to Disability scale
developed by the World Health Organization Quality of Life Group (WHOQOL Group).
The analysis uncovered evidence of strong negative attitudes of other characters in
the film towards the protagonist with Tourette’s syndrome. The findings suggest that
social attitudes toward disability in the field of education must be tackled so that our
schools can act as the torch-bearers of inclusion in society