Keeping the recent tragedy in mind, Saba Qamar released her new YouTube video on Thursday in which she highlighted how societal pressures are pulling us down leading to mental health problems.
The video aptly titled Kab Samjho Gey is an ode to all the lives we have lost to depression triggered by undue criticism and peer pressure. Saba mentioned a few names such as model Anam Tanoli and Quratulain Ali Khan, university student Rushaan Farrukh and Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, all of whom were sensitive souls who suffered from depression, succumbed to societal pressures and took their own lives.
Read: Saba Qamar launches her YouTube channel with Isolation
Within the confines of her abode, Saba depicted the dark reality of mental illness with close shots and asked some pertinent questions that dictate our day to day lives. The actress identified markers of inhumane behaviours such as teasing and bullying on appearances and even character assassinations. She asked why we (the society) have become the judge, jury and executioner? We incessantly evaluate a person’s worth through financial and social status, appearances, physical attributes and when nothing else works, we degrade them on moral grounds. We see everything but not their pain.
The visual presentation of this over 6-minute video is subtle yet hard-hitting. At one instance, some derogatory comments echo in the background while Saba silently wails and cries, depicting the pain.
She wrapped the video with a strong message that we (the society) need to reassess our morality and stop making a beautiful life hard on others with our God-complexes. She questioned why we stigmatize mental illness and call them names, rather than comforting those who suffer. Saba concluded by requesting parents to NOT encourage children to lie, betray, bully, misquote and hate at a young age to put an end to this vicious cycle of hatred, leaving us heart broken with “Aur kitni janein lo gey, kab samjho gey [How many more lives will you take, when will you understand?]”
Watch her video here:
