Padman: Shattering the Social Stigma Towards Menstruation !

Never before in the history of modern India, hardcore feminists, reformers, activists, intellectuals and media, for that matter, who claim to be well-wisher and pillars of democracy ever talked so blatantly about such a the deep-rooted problem of society.

The entire country came to standstill after Nirbhaya tragedy, but rapes continued to rise. Feminists took to the streets protesting for the rights of women for wearing clothes of their choice, roam freely, have the right to choose their profession, life partner etc. But did they ever think that more than 50% of women in India are still stigmatized for being the creator of Life?

There has been a lack of genuine efforts by feminists, activists, intellectuals and Media to bring positive change in the lives of adolescent girls and women, who have been the victim of social taboo, in small cities, towns and villages.

In India where women’s health is still not linked with menstruation, where the topic of menstruation has traditionally been ostracized and kept away from discussions in the public domain and even within the households, the stigmatization continues to risk the health of adolescent girls and women.

This is apart from affecting their day-to-day functioning and participation in public life. The use of sanitary products by adolescent girls and women in India is still decided by access, affordability and social attitude towards menstruation.

 A journey from Social Expulsion to the United Nations

The journey of Padman from making ordinary Pads with cotton and velvet to protect his wife from diseases due to using dirty cloths, to becoming laughingstock for everyone for talking about Pads openly, the protagonist faced social expulsion for taking the issue publicly. Embarrassed from his desperation to make sanitary pads, his wife, mother and sisters abandoned him. Still, the protagonist went on to set up a makeshift machine for manufacturing Pads by borrowing money.

Nonetheless, it was Sonam Kapor who helped him to showcase his invention at National Level Innovations Summit at IIT Delhi to change the lives of women in rural India by providing them with low cost sanitary pads. And the movie ends with his speech at United Nations Women Summit about Pads as he emerged as a social reformer.

The film was based on the real story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who is the inventor of the low-cost sanitary pad making machine and is credited for innovating grassroots mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India.

 Shot at the banks of Narmada, the film has beautifully showcased the mesmerizing beauty of the epic city of Maheshwar, and Mandu in Madhya Pradesh.

Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor have undeniably done extraordinary work to sensitize the masses about how important women’s menstrual health is.

Who would have thought that such issue, which people run away from talking about, would be one day showcased on the silver screen by a film star?  Padman has definitely done something exceptional by raising this issue on the big screen. Thanks to efforts of R Balki, that now politicians, intellectuals, feminists and Media are openly talking about this to make women their vote bank and TRP.

The Indian film industry and the audience have shown some sense of maturity with embracing the issues wholeheartedly.  No other film super start did dare to make movies on issues like open defecation, menstruation etc., fearing their stardom.