Lights, Camera, Stigma? Bollywood’s Depiction of Mental Health Professionals: A Scoping Review

The systematic misrepresentation of MHPs in Bollywood portrayals risks reinforcing harmful stereotypes, trivializing professional care, and discouraging help-seeking in a country already facing a vast treatment gap. This review highlights an urgent need for the film industry to move beyond caricature and to create more accurate, ethical, and humanizing portrayals that can contribute positively to public mental health literacy.