WHY PAD-MAN IS A SUPERHERO FILM WE ALL NEED!

Amidst all the struggle for freedom and equal rights, there are many other problems Indian women face on a daily basis and one of the problems is related to menstruation. Yes, we are talking about periods, an inevitable biological process which is still being associated with words such as disgust, shame, unclean, sheer embarrassment or impurity. Our society is surrounded by period taboos such as women during their periods are not allowed to enter religious places, cannot touch food, forced to sleep on the ground, and in many places, they are even not allowed to touch people.

In a country where one in four girls misses one or two days of school during their periods, we clearly need to take initiatives to spread awareness about the issue and one of those initiatives is taken by Akshay Kumar in his upcoming socially relevant film, Pad Man. The film is about Arunachalam Muruganantham, the Menstrual Man of India, who chose to talk about periods and began making affordable sanitary pads for women, especially for women who are living in rural area.

In India where only  12% of the women use sanitary napkins and over 88% use unhygienic alternatives like unsanitary cloth, ashes, husk and sand, which leads to various infections and diseases, there are many organisations and individuals working for spreading awareness about menstrual hygiene and cheap sanitary pads. But, we still needed a film like Pad Man to address this issue, Why so?

Do you remember the 2017 release film Phullu, based on the issue of menstrual hygiene, featuring Filmistaan fame Sharib Hashmi in the lead role? Or the documentary  Blood On My Hands directed by Anandana Kapur which also explores the various myths and practices related to menstruation? Your answer to the above question is a clear reflection of the impact these initiatives and films had on our minds.

Not just films or documentaries, but there are many campaigns continuously running to challenge the stigma around periods. Girls Glory, Aakar Innovations, Not Just a Piece of Cloth initiative by Goonj are some of the examples for such campaigns. A social entrepreneur Aditi Gupta started a full-fledged online periods guide, Menstrupedia, which helps women and girls to stay healthy and active during their periods. But how many of us are actually familiar with such campaigns. On the contrary, a film-like Pad Man starring the Khiladi of Bollywood Akshay Kumar will definitely have a larger impact on us and our mindset.

Yes, it is true that a mere film, based on periods, will not magically change everything related to a subject which is barely spoken of by society, but it will definitely help start a conversation about the myths and misunderstandings surrounding periods for ages. As in the film, Akshay Kumar will be seen wearing pink panties with sanitary napkins which will help eliminate the shame, embarrassment, negative behaviour towards women's natural process, menstruation.

Last year, a poet Rupi Kaur was trolled and also got death threats for posting a  picture of herself in bed with a period stain. Even Instagram deleted her pictures by stating that it went against community guidelines. This incident showed us the mindset of people according to which, "Periods" is a word that shouldn't be uttered out loud and should be kept hidden just as the pads are given to us wrapped in a black plastic bag.

Not just the film Pad Man but its promotions also help to break the silence around women’s periods and their hygiene needs. For example, Sonam Kapoor distributes sanitary pads to school girls and actor Akshay Kumar collaborated with YouTuber Aranya Johar for a video tilted as #BleedingRani. 

As we Indians are obsessed with films and stars, the film has a larger audience and listeners as compared to the other campaigns. It can make a huge difference in the lives of women and further challenge the taboos and stigma surrounding menstruation in India. Adding to the long list of reasons, the blend of humour and a love story, star cast, direction in a social drama also helps to spread message regarding menstrual hygiene, as such films stay in our memories for a longer time. Adding to all the efforts films like Pad Man can help to make a change and to spread proper education or information about mensuration and related health and hygiene.