One of the most anticipated movies of recent times is Padman because of its unusual theme, the story it tells of a regular guy with a big mission, and the way it seeks to start a conversation around something no one talks of. Maybe the #PadManChallenge is just one way to generate some pre-release buzz and publicity for the movie; but it is yet another way for all of us to think of a body process as natural and normal rather than something impure to be hidden away and kept out of conversations.
Twinkle Khanna was tagged by A Muruganantham, the man and the mission on whom the movie Padman is based. According to him, lead actor and Twinkle’s husband Akshay Kumar is “the first superstar in the world to talk about menstrual hygiene and the taboos that surround it. I’m happy that he is portraying my story as #Padman.”
The female lead in the film, Radhika Apte was among those who got the ball rolling, challenging other celebrities to pose with a pad and post a photo. The idea is to get people to understand that a period is nothing to be ashamed about – period!
Veteran actor and an outspoken champion of several causes, Shabana Azmi was a natural choice for tagging in this particular challenge.
Seen here in his newest avatar, Bollywood’s Mr. Method was also seen holding up a pad, telling people it's natural and tagging yet others to get on board.
Seen here in this short video are Anil Kapoor and Rajkumar Rao making the point about how speaking about menstrual hygiene would make things so much simpler for women.
Seen here are Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan holding up a pad and stressing the fact that this is just a regularl thing; no big deal.
TV personality Karan Tacker was also up for what he called ‘barely a challenge’… seen here with some rather large gym buddies.
…while hanging upside down! Alia Bhatt responded to the challenge while hanging upside down in the gym.
More women are posing with pads here – in the gym again!
The team of a popular Mumbai based tabloid also took up the challenge with ten men posing with pads and then nominating other media houses to do the same.
For Karan Johar it is senorita se sanitary tak, for Deepika it is a change from ek chutki sindoor to ek chutki stri mukti.
Buying sanitary napkins is usually shrouded in secrecy; the chemist will surreptitiously wrap the packet in a newspaper and then insert that into a polythene bag. This woman decided to dispense with all that.
This guy bought sanitary pads for his sister for the first time; indicating that there is nothing here for men to be ashamed of or be grossed out by either.
Twinkle Khanna speaks here about the fact that taboos still exist; that even progressive women do have their preconceptions and social conditioning does still have a stronghold. We have a long way to go still; the #PadManChallenge is a small step in the right direction.
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