Portrayal of Suicide in Bollywood Movies Over Last Two Decades: A Content Analysis.

This article analyzes the portrayal of suicide in 22 Bollywood movies released between 2002 and 2022, focusing on content and scientific accuracy. The study found that characters depicting suicidal behavior were mostly middle-aged, unmarried, well-educated, employed, and affluent, with emotional pain and shame/guilt as the primary motives. Suicides were often impulsive, involved high lethality methods such as falling from heights, and frequently resulted in death, contrasting with epidemiological data. Few movies depicted suicide linked to psychiatric illness or showed treatment-seeking behavior, highlighting a gap between cinematic representation and scientific understanding. The authors recommend that Bollywood filmmakers align portrayals of suicide more closely with evidence-based knowledge to avoid misconceptions and fulfill social responsibility.