SC verdict asks filmmakers not to stereotype or lampoon differently abled

Differently abled and derision have often gone hand in hand in mainstream Hindi cinema with numerous instances of impairments, visual, speech, physical and others, being used to get laughs mostly unkind. A trend activists and lawyers hope will end with the Supreme Court's recent game changing verdict.

Stereotyping differently abled persons in cinema perpetuates discrimination and inequality, the apex court said last week while asking filmmakers to refrain from misleading portrayals and laying down terms such as crippled and spastic that should not be used.

Humour can be an important element because it sometimes spreads the message about disability and acts as a tool for awareness, said Nipun Malhotra, who filed the petition that led to the Supreme Court verdict.

"But there is a subtle difference between humour that is creating awareness and laughing at situations with people in disability space and humour that laughs at the disability itself. The Supreme Court, in its judgement, ha