The Need for Criticality in Medical Humanities: A Critical Exploration of Hooch Tragedies through Arun Roy's Cholai

Abstract

In recent times, there has been a surge in the illicit alcohol trade in India. The proliferating illicit alcohol business has caught attention after a series of alcohol tragedies (cases of mass alcohol poisonings in India), which have taken place since the pandemic across the country. Hundreds of people have been affected by these tragedies in the states of Bihar, Punjab, Gujarat, and, most recently, in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu.

These tragedies are severely understudied and are often dismissed as instances of chemical mismatch or turned into spectacles. This paper explores Arun Roy's movie Cholai. Cholai is a 2016 dark comedy that is based on the 2011 hooch deaths in rural Bengal. Hooch is the colloquial name for an alcoholic drink that is sold for commercial purposes and is often adulterated with batteries, sandals, and anything that gives that extra 'kick'. In the movie, when more than a hundred people die after consuming poisonous hooch, the media and society turn the entire incident into a spectacular facade. This embodies what happens with hooch tragedies outside the fictional world as well.

This paper explores this spectacular turn while arguing for a more critical view of these tragedies. It argues that the victims of these tragedies, mostly belonging to marginalised castes or classes, are victims of an institutional collapse and should be viewed as such. The responsibility should not fall upon the victims and their families, but the state and its institutions