Before ‘Bala’, Here Are 3 Films That Dealt With Balding

Some other films that have dealt with premature balding and alopecia.

Ayushmann Khurrana never shies away from treading off the beaten track, so when he collaborated with Amar Kaushik for Bala, our expectations soared. The protagonist in Bala (played by Mr Khurrana) suffers from premature balding. For those apprehensive about the subject, here’s a fact – even if you excavate examples from films where the hero isn’t ‘conventionally’ good-looking, it’s taken for granted that he should come armed with thick, lush hair. After all, is that even a thing people can lack?

For years, films have made fun of bald men, forcing them to wear wigs so that those can be blown away by a gust of wind. Take for example, Tees Maar Khan. Akshay Khanna’s assistant was mocked time and again for putting a wig on. However, some filmmakers are taking baby steps to address this ‘lack.’ Let’s look at a few movies wherein premature balding and some other hair problems have been dealt with sensitively.

1. ‘Ondu Motteya Kathe’ (2017)

Raj B Shetty, the director and lead actor of the Kannada film Ondu Motteya Kathe, plays 28-year-old Janardhan, who suffers from premature balding. Not surprisingly, he is not a sought-after candidate in the marriage market. A broker explains with extreme sympathy the problems – he is balding and on top of that he is a Kannada lecturer. At college, too, teachers go weak in their knees for the new lecturer because his head is full of hair and secondly (mind you, that’s equally important) he teaches English.

The undertone of sadness at being rejected and ridiculed time and again is shown in a light-hearted manner, so that the sharp stab is felt by everyone. There’s a sequence wherein Janardhan’s father exclaims after he is ditched by yet another girl - “He doesn’t have hair, it seems. Doesn’t he work for a living? Can hair become food?” Again, at the headmaster’s cabin, Janardhan takes in a student for mocking him, but the principal in turn says, “How can you mock a person who is your dad’s age?” The punishment is actually meted out to our bald hero. The urge to find a soulmate makes Janardhan so desperate at one point of time that he forgets his qualities. Ondu Motteya Kathe deftly chooses people who are the leftover and “unworthy” choices in a market driven by superficiality.

2. ‘Thamaasha’ (2019)

The Malayalam movie deals with the same subject as Bala and Ondu Motteya Kathe, and is reportedly a tribute to the latter. Debutant director Ashraf Hamza's film stars Vinay Forrt as Sreenivasan Masha, a socially awkward, shy Malayalam professor who is struggling to come to terms with his premature balding. Anxious to get married, he seeks out women only to be rejected by them. When neither his nor his family’s efforts bear fruit, a friend Raheem (Navas) advises him to look within his professional and social circle. Destiny arranges an encounter with Chinnu, a youngster who is fully aware of the prejudiced mindset to overweight women but does not let anyone break her confidence.

Though Thamaasha focuses on Sreenivasan’s problem, it also highlights his flaws. In an episode, we see the professor talking to Chinnu over phone when she was a stranger to him. He refers to a woman as “the fat girl” only to realise in embarrassment that it is her. We are all guided by our own biases, and this message is intelligently couched in realism.

3. ‘Gone Kesh’ (2019)

Directed by Qasim Khallow and starring Shweta Tripathi, Gone Kesh is about a young girl suffering from Alopecia, a condition that causes rapid loss of hair, so much so that one becomes bald in a short period of time. The film starts with the protagonist Enakshi dreaming about her own wedding. She is beautiful, by which I am particularly referring to her long, thick hair. Tragedy sets in when her friends discover “an island” on her head. Thereby, Enakshi starts sinking into depression as her hair begins disappearing swiftly. Prospective grooms also run away the moment they come to know of her condition.

While some doctors only focus on ‘curing’ the condition, others come as saviours, says Enakshi in the film. “Wear a wig” – this advice becomes life-altering for the young girl and there’s no looking back after that. She also finds love in the most endearing way possible.

Just like these three, we hope Bala, too, succeeds in tugging at our heart strings.