'Mental Hai Kya?'

It's a phrase you've probably overheard someone say in response to something or someone they found ridiculous or bizarre.Though incredibly problematic, offensive and disrespectful to those with mental health issues, you probably let it slide. (Maybe, even said it yourself?)

However, the popular acceptance of the phrase has resulted in its transformation as the go-to exclamation for people when they want to point out somebody doing bizarre or crazy things. Especially for Bollywood, which has co-opted "being mental" to define 'craziness' and not always the clinical kind. And now, they've very literally named a film 'Mental Hai Kya?'

The first-look poster for the film which was released on 17th April, has created quite a buzz on the Internet - but perhaps not for the reasons you'd think. The poster for the movie, starring Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao in the lead roles, has been drawing flak on Twitter for the terrible depiction of 'crazy' and for its insensitive naming.

The poster, featuring Kangana and Rajkummar, shows the two actors facing each other as they balance a blade between their tongues. But that's not all - there's a video showing why exactly they're 'crazy' with scenes depicting mindless violence such as Rajkummar Rao stubbing a lit cigarette out on his forehead or Kangana Ranaut lying in a chalk-out of a body.

Captioned "Get ready for craziness that cuts through,” to add cutting-edge wit to the poster, Balaji Motion Pictures posted a tweet showing the poster. 'Sanity is overrated' the poster says. Is it, now?

The poster has drawn intense flak for exploiting mental health issues and for depicting the protagonists as actual, violent threats to themselves and society at large.

This isn't out of the ordinary for Bollywood - to create outrageous situations to sell their movies. However, while the hype certainly sold it and #MentalHaiKya started trending on Twitter, a lot of people including psychologists and mental health experts pointed out just how problematic the marketing and the promotion of this film is.

I wish the producers , directors and actors including @pklovemodi @RajkummarRao and #KanganaRanaut would reassure us that the film isn't increasing stigma or misrepresenting mental illness... https://t.co/ILwUSXncnp — Dr Milan B (@milantheshrink) April 17, 2019

Name of the film stigmatizes mental illness, needs to be changed. Caregiver and mental health activist @chibberratna is taking up with the producer. @AdvGauravKumar has advised to approach Censor Board before seeking legal recourse. Senior psychiatrists have asked IPS to take up — Amrit Bakhshy (@AmritSAA) April 18, 2019

People with real mental health issues are struggling to get treatment, because of the stigma with words like ‘MENTAL’, ‘PSYCHO’. It is highly insensitive to have title like #MentalHaiKya I humbly request to change the title @RajkummarRao #KanganaRanaut — Dr. Pavan Sonar 🇮🇳 (@PavanSonar) April 17, 2019

Sanity overrated ? As if (so called) ‘insanity’ is a choice for people suffering from #mentalhealth issues. #MentalHaiKya highly stigmatising name in context of real mental illness. Urge the creators to review & change it. — Dr. Pavan Sonar 🇮🇳 (@PavanSonar) April 17, 2019

>@SmritiSawhney Precisely the gripe I had even with the title #MentalHaiKya. The poster does not help the cause either. The layperson would not be able to differentiate between 'mentally ill' and 'Mental'. Those with #mentalillness are often called 'mental' in a derogatory way. https://t.co/SWhdqdNB0P — Vijay Nallawala (@VijayNallawala) April 17, 2019

Don't they realise how stigmatizing this is! How these sort of movies set us decades back in the awareness created for mental illness. How many people don't get employed because their employers have watched movies that show bizarre behavior and propagate stigma! — Tanya Dutt (@tandutt) April 17, 2019

Bollywood, maybe it's time you hired someone to check and sign off on what's "cool" and what is just straight up problematic?

At a time when we should be encouraging healthy conversation about mental health and awareness and normalizing the stigma around it, this movie perhaps will act as a huge leap backwards into the past.

#MentalHaiKya is a really bad title for a film. sanity is not overrated, and a person having mental health issues is not meant for your jokes and movie titles. — jesus was poor 🐝 (@ImpastoP) April 17, 2019

"Mental Hai Kya" is being made under Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures and is co-produced by Shailesh Singh. Reportedly, actress Amyra Dastur plays a crucial role in the film and has been paired opposite Rajkummar, romantically. The film also marks the reunion of Kangana and Rajkummar after five years.