Mental Hai Kya Actress Kangana Ranaut Says The Term 'Mental' Was Used To 'Shame' Her

New Delhi: Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao's upcoming film Mental Hai Kya is featuring in headlines courtesy of its dark humour posters. Rajkummar Rao told mid-day that he decided to take up the project because of its "unique script" but Kangana said that her reason was personal. "The way my life unfolded in the past few years, I realised there was so much stigma attached to being different. 'Mental' or 'psycho' were the terms used to shame me, but these can't be used casually as swear words. When this script came along, I knew I had to do it to break the stigma around it. High time we made individuality aspirational," she told mid-day.

The posters of Mental Hai Kya appear quirky at first but reflect a darker truth when analysed closely. Like in the fifth and the latest posters of the film, Kangana and Rajkummar's characters are causing self-hurt. "The film deals with mental illness and hallucinations, but Ekta (producer Ekta Kapoor) decided to take this route," Kangana told mid-day.
 

Beware! They will set the world on fire! Presenting #MentalHaiKyaLook5#KanganaRanaut @RajkummarRao @ektaravikapoor @pkovelamudi@RuchikaaKapoor @KanikaDhillon @ShaileshRSingh @KarmaFeatures pic.twitter.com/YgnkPZ9xSw

— BalajiMotionPictures (@balajimotionpic) March 9, 2018

This poster of the film depicts the lead characters' suicidal tendencies:
 

#KanganaRanaut and @RajkummarRao are Killing it... Quite literally!
Presenting #MentalHaiKyaLook3 @ektaravikapoor @pkovelamudi @RuchikaaKapoor @KanikaDhillon @ShaileshRSingh @balajimotionpic @KarmaFeatures pic.twitter.com/DLi3eAXlCY

— BalajiMotionPictures (@balajimotionpic) March 7, 2018

Of how her film deals with mental illness, Kangana said: "We won't show people as pitiable, sympathy-seeking characters. We'll portray the issue with sensitivity. The film takes a stand against equating individuality with madness."

Mental Hai Kya is Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao's second collaboration after Queen, which released in 2014.