"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh PalCinema is often looked upon as a source of entertainment. However, cinema has a much larger purpose to serve. As with any medium of art, cinema must offer an avenue for spiritual enlightenment. It must help us feel, think and reflect on the larger picture of our lives. It must help us build inroads into ourselves.
‘Reel to Real’ is a book that explores the human mind through an analysis of the characters portrayed in Malayalam cinema. It critically analyzes the human mind through the narrative of cinema and draws valuable conclusions with regard to the motivational drives of the human mind. The films mentioned under different themes in this book are valuable in the inferences they draw with regard to the factors that shape mental health. They breathe life into the theories of personality and shape our attitude to mental illness. This would be a valuable guide to film makers, mental health practitioners, parents and teachers.
In an era dominated by the progressive deterioration of mental health, there is a need to revive cinema from a psychological perspective. This book bridges science and art, and provides a rare perspective on mental health.
Vidya Chathoth
Vidya Chathoth is a doctor by profession and resides in Kannur. She works at the Kannur Medical College. Her first article, A wrecked childhood, was published in the New Indian Express, Kozhikode edition, February 2007. Reel to Real is her first book.
She writes regularly on her Wordpress blog, It’s all in the mind (www.vchathoth@wordpress.com). The human mind is the central theme of all her articles. Her writings are largely non-fictional and powered by the desire to explore and understand the human mind. Her writing spans a broad spectrum of topics and includes cinema, creative non-fiction and mental health, but they are all centered on the possibilities of the human mind. She has written many articles on the factors that shape mental health, and on healthy parenting and lifestyle.
Her research area of interest is also centered on this theme and she has published a few research articles on behavioral addictions. She aspires to initiate a campaign on mental health awareness, and this book is her first step towards the same. She believes that the key to happiness is in being all that one is capable of being, and she aspires to educate, inspire and motivate people towards such a path.
