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?
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.
