While driving back home after watching Mahanubhavudu, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had OCD. After all, like Anand in the film I cannot stand people who do not wash their hands with soap after using the restroom, hate it if people touch my food, carry sanitizer and wipes where ever I go, avoid temple’s holy water and “prasads” as much as possible, and last but not the least, I have on several occasions cleaned other people’s toilets because I felt that they were not clean enough. Surprisingly, my husband who is crazier than me when it comes to keeping things neat and tidy, had the same thing on his mind. It wasn’t until we reached home and saw our daughter’s three-days-old homework spread out on the table, and toys all over the place, did it dawn on us that as crazy as some of our habits were, we were not victims of OCD.
I have always been fascinated by people suffering from OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, especially onscreen. The first time I ever came across the disorder was twenty years ago in the form of Melvin Udall played to perfection by Jack Nicholson in the film As Good As It Gets. The success of the film, and Nicholson’s Academy Award opened doors for many more such characters, the most memorable among them being Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk in Monk and Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory. While Hollywood has consistently explored characters with OCD in the past two decades, our industry failed to recognize the entertainment potential in this disorder until now, especially in a country like India where we often think and do things with our heart rather than our mind. Maruti, who has established himself as a story-teller of human disorders, does a great job of showing the trails and tribulations of a person suffering from a disorder such as OCD, in Mahanubhavudu.
The film starts with Anand (Sharwanand) narrating his story while being rushed to the hospital. He introduces himself as an individual suffering from OCD. His extreme obsession with cleanliness and intolerance to anything unhygienic, makes it hard for him to bond with anyone, that is, until Meghana (Mehreen) comes along. Mistaking her to be a cleanliness freak like him, he falls in love with her. What follows is the ups and downs between the couple, caused mostly by his disorder.
While Maruti did a great job of penning Anand, it is Sharwanand who breathes life into this very complex character, making him and the film so lovable. Thanks to great performances by the entire cast, especially Vennela Kishore, and Bhadram whose mere presence in the film sets you rolling with laughter, Mahanubhavudu is very entertaining till the end. The fact that people were walking out of the theater with a huge smile on their face while playfully enacting some of Anand’s OCD habits, shows the effect this film is having on the audience.
One of the biggest mistake Maruti did was give his lead character a very common name “Anand”. After As Good As It Gets, Monk and The Big Bang Theory, the names Melvin, Udall, Monk and Sheldon became synonymous with OCD. To this day, whenever we see people exhibiting OCD traits we just call them by one of these names and they immediately get it, without anyone having to explain. Frankly, I don’t see the name “Anand” catching on in the same way, even though people have connected so well with the character. They can still say “Anand from Mahanubhavudu” but it does not have the same effect. Sadly Maruti may have missed the opportunity of immortalizing his character by not giving it a unique name.
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