A few days ago, Sacred Games actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui made some controversial comments about depression not existing in rural areas. He told Mashable India that depression is an urban issue, and that if he were to tell his father he was feeling depressed, he would get one hard slap. He said he learned about depression and other mental health-related illnesses after coming to the city. Now, in a recent interview, he was once again asked about his comment about calling depression an urban issue. Repeating the same thing, Nawazuddin said that he may be wrong but that is ‘his experience’. Now, Dahaad actor Gulshan Devaiah has responded to Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s comments.

Gulshan Devaiah reacts to Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s comment on depression

In a new interview with NDTV, when Nawazuddin Siddiqui was asked about his comments on depression, Nawazuddin said, “Mai to apna experience bata raha hu. Ho sakta hai main galat hu, meri jo cheez hai wo galat ho jaaye saabit. But mai agar abhi bhi apne gaav me jaake bolu ki mujhe thoda depression ho gaya hai, toh mujhe thappad padega. Are you ‘kya hota hai depression?’ (I was just telling my experience. It is possible that I am wrong. But even today, if I would go to my village and say that I have depression, I would be slapped.) Nawazuddin, who hails from a village called Budhana in Uttar Pradesh, went on to say that people in cities have a habit of glorifying even the smallest of problems. “Unka dekho na jo footpath pe bhi baithke baarish me dans kar rahe hain. Unko na hota nahi hai depression. (Look how dance people sitting on the footpath in the rain. Why don’t those people have depression?” he said.

Reacting to this video, Gulshan Devaiah wrote on Twitter, “Dritharashtra & Gandhari Syndrome. I respect the man immensely for his art, but I won’t take him seriously on this issue. If you even just look at alcoholism or addictions, it exists in rural communities and it’s mental illness. No addict indulges in addiction because they love it. The addiction is a symptom, the real problem is the trauma they cannot heal.” Check out his tweet below!

One Twitter user asked Gulshan the meaning of ‘Dritharashtra & Gandhari Syndrome’. He replied: “Some are blind and others are blindfolded. If they don’t see, it doesn’t exist.”

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