Spoilers ahead…
As someone who enjoys the gimmicky premises in R Balki’s films, I was surprised by the opening portions of Pad Man – the director plays it safe, and dead-straight. The story is based on the amazing life of Arunachalam Muruganantham (reincarnated here as Lakshmikant Chauhan, played by Akshay Kumar), who invented a way to make low-cost sanitary napkins, but instead of “setting up” the character, the way a conventional biopic would, Balki (with co-writer Swanand Kirkire) quickly sets up the issue, of women’s hygiene. If you want to know how this barely educated villager developed such a scientific temperament in a community so governed by superstition, this is not the film for you. In Balki’s eyes, that’s a given. Lakshmikant sees his wife, Gayatri (Radhika Apte), tearing up while chopping onions. Boom! He invents a slicer. He sees that she’s uncomfortable sitting behind him on his cycle. Boom! He designs a backseat.
And so, when Lakshmikant sees Gayatri using dirty rags during her periods (when she isn’t allowed to enter the house)… Boom! He designs a sanitary napkin. (Actually, he buys a pack, and when she’s horrified at how much it costs, he opts for a do-it-yourself approach.) Your response to the rest of the film – he tries, he fails, he tries again, he fails, he tries, he succeeds – will probably depend on whether you liked this star’s earlier outing in this territory, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Because these issues are so obvious to urban audiences, the expositions can come off like PSAs (and they are, in a way), but like older, issue-based Hindi cinema, these broad, rousing films wear the heart on the sleeve, and if some complexity is lost, the sweetness and simplicity makes up for it. These are stories about people first, issues only later.
And what nice people they are! Among the things I like most in this avatar of Akshay Kumar is that he’s bringing niceness back to the big screen. After years of hip filmmakers weaned on foreign cinema, it’s nice to smell the soil again – even if it is designer soil. Amit Trivedi’s background score is unforgivably heavy, but his earthy songs work beautifully with PC Sreeram’s cinematography (possibly his warmest palette ever, filled with yellows and browns). The wry humour is the kind you can imagine being written for Om Prakash. When a pharmacist surreptitiously hands Lakshmikant a pack of sanitary napkins, he asks, “Ganja charas de rahe ho?” And there’s at least one subversion I enjoyed. In the older films, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is fraught, but here, the son is the cause of domestic tension.
A question, now, arises. Is it right that the life of a Coimbatore-based inventor-entrepreneur is scented with the flavour of a bygone era of Hindi cinema? The answer comes from Arunachalam Muruganantham himself, who told The Hindu that he did not want the story to be made in Tamil. “I did have Tamil filmmakers approach me,” he said. “But I did not want the film to be confined to one part of the country.” Which makes sense, then, that Balki relocates this southern story to the centre of the country: Madhya Pradesh. The film, too, exists at the centre – neither too radical, nor too progressive. There’s not a single unexpected moment. The reasoning, perhaps, is that the premise is discomfiting enough, so the focus is more on how to make the medicine go down easy.
In Balki’s hands, the medicine becomes a milkshake. Pad Man is almost alarmingly well-oiled, with Lakshmikant’s progress seeming the result not so much of hard work as the constant presence of a fairy godmother. (Indeed, the Sonam Kapoor character, who helps him when he needs it the most, is named Pari.) An angry lender demands that Lakshmikant repay his loan. Boom! The next second, a call arrives from Pari, offering a way out. A woman in the neighbourhood is oppressed by her alcoholic husband. Boom! Lakshmikant “invents” an idea so she can be self-sufficient. The women in the village are hesitant to try Lakshmikant’s product. Boom! Pari arrives, and becomes his sales girl, showing him that, in these situations, women respond better to a woman’s presence.
It’s the bullet-point approach to screenwriting, but it works. For one, the breakneck pace cuts through the clichés of the Obsessed, Eccentric, Single-minded Inventor biopic. The beats in these films are almost always the same, and if you’ve seen the recent Malayalam entries in this genre (Aby, Vimaanam), you’ll know how well-intentioned earnestness can cripple a story. The trick is to find a way out of this familiarity, and Balki’s way out is by employing this pace, and a direct appeal to our emotions. When Gayatri receives a call from Lakshmikant after a long time, she’s devastated that he keeps talking about his product instead of enquiring about her. Part of the film’s mission is to show Gayatri how wrong she is. As in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, this protagonist is an inherently decent man who does what he does because he cannot bear to see his wife suffer.
I misted up at several points – when Pari dismisses Lakshmikant’s product as a “sasta [inexpensive] pad” and he explains how much it cost him, or when he realises the thing really works. And the interval block is stupendously conceived. Like many of these mad scientists, Lakshmikant is fixated on how he can change the world, and he doesn’t give much thought to how all this is making Gayatri (and the other women in his family) feel. So we get the moment where he “tries on” the product to test it, and it malfunctions spectacularly – and he experiences, first-hand, the public embarrassment and shame women feel about this matter. Pad Man may skip over the “logistical” logic, not delving too deeply into the whats and whys, but its emotional logic is sound.
And Balki never loses sight of the fact that what he’s making isn’t an Oscar-bait biopic but a rousing audience-pleaser. There are fantastic “mass” moments. We laugh when Lakshmikant goes to a garment store and asks for a “mahila ki chaddi,” his size. We laugh again when he asks money from the very man demanding his loan back. The easy banter between Pari and her vathakuzhambu-making father is pure Balki (and, by extension, pure Mani Ratnam, who’s Drona to Balki’s Eklavya). This quippy lightness prevents the love angle (Pari falls for Lakshmikant) from becoming too painful, though I wish the film had done away with it altogether. Sonam Kapoor does the world’s worst imitation of playing the tabla, but her performance, otherwise, is like her character: light, breezy.
It helps that she doesn’t have to anchor the movie – that’s left to the other two stars. Radhika Apte shows what a perceptive actress can do with a small range of emotions. All Gayatri seems to be doing is whimpering about her husband’s perceived misdeeds, but this anguish is so heartfelt that we never lose sight of her viewpoint even as we celebrate her husband. As for Akshay Kumar, his likeability factor in these good-hearted simpleton roles is off the charts. (I can’t imagine another actor selling that corny, cutesy UN speech.) Unlike Manoj Kumar, who is Akshay’s predecessor in this type of film, he has a sense of humour about himself, and he powers past his actorly limitations with sheer charm. Manoj Kumar felt like a dour teacher with a cane. Akshay feels like a friend. That niceness thing, he does it best.
Copyright ©2018 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
brangan
February 11, 2018
Really liked the movie, but found this piece… troubling!
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Anuja Chandramouli
February 11, 2018
That’s a very nice article you shared BR. I would hate to be told how to feel about my period or lectured on the ‘proper’ product to use. Daresay ‘those poor, wretched women’ perceived as unclean and reduced to using rags and other ‘unhygienic substitutes’ for sanitary napkins till they were rescued by Padman and his cheap, leaky product (which no privileged woman like Mrs. Funnybones would ever use) would feel the same.
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brangan
February 11, 2018
I don’t know, Anuja. I have conflicted thoughts about the tone of this piece. Because whether the product worked or not, I do think the idea behind it came from a good place. This piece (with that headline!) makes it seem like he was an opportunist, no?
This line… “Was it disgust at how obnoxious Muruganathan was and yet one couldn’t deny his ‘greatness’ because he came from a poor background?”
Why was he obnoxious? Because he presumed something he did not know enough about? In that case, sure, call him out for that.
But this tone is so mocking of what he set out to do — for all his faults, I think he felt he was doing good. I mean, I really don’t think he did this hoping to get famous and covered by the BBC.
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Purple Sky
February 11, 2018
I will never know much about the rural people. But I do know what the girls in the lower middle class were going through. I know of girls who were scolded by their mothers if they used more than two per day, because they couldn’t afford more. I know that all this excessive bleeding, PCOD are really a cross that many many women are bearing… Again all these things start from the lower middle class and higher, whose diets have distorted in unimaginable ways. Maybe not in the rural people who do physical work, who eat the right foods.
I don’t know how many people may turn squeamish discussing these things… Still here goes. If there was a revolution that had to happen it was not low cost sanitary pads where low cost or not, you still have a monthly recurring cost. It is products that are one time purchases and can be used for years, thereby reducing the impact on the annual budget of a low income family. There are products like that available in the market, but because it is more profitable for manufacturers to have a product where the demand is constant, predictable and with a potential to grow, pads were favoured, marketed and succeeded. But the environmental impacts of these products while manufacturing and disposing is a whole minefield in itself.
There r some experiments with banana waste to make these more economical and environmental friendly. Whether these experiments succeed only time and market will tell.
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kaizokukeshav
February 11, 2018
Some how this ‘nice’ virus from Akshay Kumar’s only-on-the-surface kind of message oriented nationalistic movies has been spread to your blog post. Many bullet points are about topics that are outside of the movie. That’s what we can get from emotionalistic realism, an undercooked product. I wish AK made Baby kind of movies which tend more towards fiction than emotional rant. Only Aamir Khan has mastered the latter.
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Anuja Chandramouli
February 11, 2018
Think the author sees Muruganathan simply as a businessman out to sell his (faulty) product and seems annoyed that he has been catapulted into the big league of fame and recognition and may unwittingly have become a promo tool for big business. She does say that “The way Muruganathan has shot to fame without any valid reason, is a great indicator of who we are as a society, and how media can make us doubt our own experiences. The question is not to him. He is a businessman, doing whatever it takes to make his living and his identity” Think she is more miffed with how big name brands from the West seek to create a huge market for themselves by shaming folks in the rural sectors and brainwashing them into buying stuff they may not really need or hawking defective products that no er… privileged person would buy in a million years.
Was reminded of the time my OB GYN told me that they were having a rough time convincing new mothers of unfortunate means that breastfeeding was the best option for all children. She told me that many told her that they wanted to give their babies rich people’s baby products like cerelac. Then they would try to make a packet of cerelac last as long as possible by diluting it and ensuring that the child becomes malnourished when ideally breast milk alone would have sufficed. It broke my heart it did… Besides the road to hell is paved with good intentions nah? But that said I find the real Padman very inspiring and as always it sucks that he is being used as part of a narrative that may just be driven by vested interests.
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Pavan
February 11, 2018
BR, I think one has to view Arunachalam Muruganantham (hereafter AM) as an entrepreneur than an activist. His story, in a way, reminds me of Raees. Raees started the trade for survival and freedom from being exploited. But ultimately, he ended up being so power centric. Him asking the local ladies whether they can stitch bags, attacking a politician canvassing in his area, and that housing board idea. Good or not, the way he ended up being was surely not the one who he began as.
AM wanted to bring Sanitary pads for a cheaper cost, which is appreciable, but it was not a non commercial service. He did business and was unapologetic about that. I have no right to comment on his character, but let me tell this. Mukesh Ambani introducing Jio and thereby helping us make free outgoing calls might benefit the society. But, Jio is a business and none can oppose that. At the end of the day, Mukesh or AM or any other entrepreneurs would expect return on investment primarily.
Coming to the film, no surprises. The trailer was simple and the film was even more simpler. Added to that is the fairy tale like depiction of the subject matter. P C Sreeram’s images though, for me, oscillate between the warm fuzzy and the cold real. And that’s slightly disturbing when the priority was purely to make it a “feel good” film.
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Prashila
February 11, 2018
Don’t care about the movie, because AK with his whole “Desh ki mitti”, “Desh ka tel” and “Desh ka toilet” fascination is getting on my nerves(and I consider myself fairly ‘patriotic’). I wish he would take a break and make a Hera Pheri, even a Baba Elaichi ad would do.
But I would not discount Muruganathan’s intentions as cruelly as the article you posted did. From whatever I have heard of his interviews he doesn’t seem like someone who did this to get covered by BBC, as you say.
The article makes very very important points that seem to have lost between the whole hungama around the movie that ‘pads’ are the solution to a woman’s izzat.(That dialogue in the movie trailer was so off-putting) And yes clean cloth is the most eco-friendly alternative to synthetic sanitary pads that are fast becoming a environmental hazard in our billion plus country. But to claim that her research and her personal experiences with 7000 women cover all there is to know about this country and how there is awareness about periods and all women are empowered enough to find enough clean cloth to not replace it by other dangerous alternatives, is something I cannot agree with. NGOs like Goonj work on collecting cloth to manufacture cotton pads for women because I find it absolutely believable that women can lack clean cloth! And if hunger and homelessness are a reality, why is this even surprising.
That said, Muruganathan’s popularity might also be attributed to him being a man, and a very ordinary looking one at that? In a way like she says, it does fit with the idea of ‘Poor India Shining’ that the West loves so much.
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Vidya Ramesh
February 11, 2018
The movie was just ok for me BR …the actual inventors’ ted talk was more impressive. Reality in this case is better than fiction.
There are a couple of things that I read around this movie that disturbed me as well Mr BR..one is a campaign by people posing with cloth napkins and cups saying it’s better for the environment and better than disposable pads. this is undermining the inventors actual intention which I don’t doubt was pure..he did not set out to harm the environment did he! And why now? The second thing is a sarcastic dig at Akshay by the comedienne Mallika Dua..saying something to the effect of posing with pads not really empower ing women..its below the belt and I like Mallika Dua but this was low.. the guy is just promoting his movie I! can people not let a good deed with good intentions be?? No good deed goes unpunished.
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brangan
February 11, 2018
Vidya Ramesh: I didn’t go in expecting a biopic, and I was fairly happy with what I got. I think it helps if you like Balki’s style. I know a lot of people are put off his surface-level approach to hot-button subjects, but I like how he fashions a frothy entertainment from it. Just because a subject is serious, I don’t expect the treatment to be, and his sensibility, his humour, etc. totally works for me.
Also, the cynical crap that people do to promote a movie shouldn’t be allowed to colour your thoughts about the film itself. I know they keep promoting these films as though they want to bring about social change, but we should try to look at the film as just a film. (Oh, before I forget, all this is… IMO. 🙂 )
Another thing I hear about films (not this one, but in general about issue-based films) is that rich people with no idea of poor-people problems are making money off such movies. If you train those lens on a film, then no film can be “pure.” We can only judge whether the filmmaking itself is organic, entertaining etc — and whether that works or doesn’t work.
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JalabulaJugs
February 11, 2018
Another article by the same blogger on this issue. This one doesnt have the ‘mocking’ tone, so I found it a more insightful read…
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/why-india-doesnt-need-the-sanitary-napkin-revolution
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Dhanda Soru
February 11, 2018
“But to claim that her research and her personal experiences with 7000 women cover all there is to know about this country and how there is awareness about periods and all women are empowered enough to find enough clean cloth to not replace it by other dangerous alternatives, is something I cannot agree with. ”
Exactly what I was thinking when I read the post. But in her defence, she does point to studies that challenge the prevalent notion that an overwhelming majority of the women in the country are unable to satisfactorily tend to their menstrual health needs. But the film’s gotten people talking about the problem, so that’s something.
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JalabulaJugs
February 11, 2018
I feel the movie works differently for urban/semi-urban and the rural people. Sure the movie does initiate dialogue about menstruation because even among the urban, educated people this topic is hush-hush. I have been the recipient of looks of shock when I go to the chemist/super market and buy pads for my wife, not only by men but also by women. So, in that sense, this movie will make the open up the denial to talk about menstruation among this set of people.
But for the rural, its a different story. I have had the privilege of listening to Mr. Muruganantham on stage and as Pavan rightly pointed out, he is an entrepreneur more than an activist. So he just replaces the costly product available in the market with a cheaper ‘jugaadu’ one. I am sure he must not have carried out studies about what sort of menstrual hygiene do rural women practise across. In that sense, this movie becomes one big PR campaign to push the rural women into using pads even though they could be using far more sustainable and tested practices, which the movie and its makers ignore.
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Vivek narain
February 11, 2018
Unorganised sector and quacks abound in health, food, sanitation etc. Unlicenced, they flaunt their products with impunity. Licencing authorities are there like, Drugs Controller BIS fssai and Municipal Corporation. Roadside eateries don’t get any kind of licence fssai or Nagar Nigam licence. The tomato ketchup and chilly sauce is totally spurious and MSG (aji no moto)is a banned substance that is freely used, I know because i’m in the pharma trade .A few days back a quack was arrested from Unnao that borders Lucknow, who used to give injection and 3 packets of medicine for just rs.10 and he attended over 100 patients daily, he used the same syringe for all. Around 60 persons have been detected with hiv+ at the govt organised camps.
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sanjana
February 11, 2018
Thinking wife wanted to contribute to her husband’s filmography by chosing a somewhat controversial subject and made a reasonably entertaining movie which will be forgotten after a few months. I always admired Twinkle for her beauty, elegance and brains.
The problem with pad even in advanced countries is, clogging the toilets just like toilet paper can do sometimes. Other problem is people who just throw away them in their trash bins without basic washing which reaches public dustbins and which attracts dogs because of the smell and sight apart from other food items.
Clean cotton cloth is the best alternative and should be provided instead of buying steel katoris from bartanwalis. Bartanwalis can be given polyester and synthetic clothes in exchange for some steel utensils. Infact they can be given free to them.
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Venky Ramachandran
February 11, 2018
There is something I want to talk about. Not necessarily about the movie, but the pattern (or as I see it, one’s distinctive film-making algorithm) you are able to discern and articulate eloquently about these film makers in these spaces.
Taking the case of an experienced director like Balki here, to borrow your words: a) Gimmicky premise b) Subversion c) Frothy entertainment from a hot-button subject.
Even newbie directors are quickly falling into a pattern. Take the case of a promising director like Vignesh Shivan. At first, Fake Rowdy, and then now, Fake CBI.
If I were Balki or Vignesh Shivan, I would be extremely embarassed about how predictable I have become that a critic, an outsider( from a film creator’s POV) is clearly able to spell out the formula and write at length seeing the parallels.
Why do you think BR, these directors get trapped in these patterns of their making? Is it the case everywhere with all directors? Is this about a formula which they have tasted success and therefore internalised so much that they have no choice but to unconsciosuly repeat it everytime with a new film?
Can’t a director completely reinvent his craft and aesthetics with “every new film” ( as they often say the case is before the launch of a movie)? Are there such directors in the game? I am curious.
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bharathikannamma
February 11, 2018
As far as I know, Arunachalam Muruganandham identifies himself as a social entrepreneur. And dismissing his intentions as opportunistic is not really fair. He identified a problem and came up with a solution, which may / may not be the best solution. But at least it is a small step in the largely unexplored area of menstrual hygiene.
The movie itself did not quite work because it was way too simplistic. It did not really capture the personality of Arunchalam Muruganandham as it is seen in his speeches and interviews. Moreover the track between Pari and Arunchalam was too distracting and the timeline of the events was bit confusing.
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Vidya Ramesh
February 11, 2018
I didn’t go in expecting a biopic, and I was fairly happy with what I got. I think it helps if you like Balki’s style. I know a lot of people are put off his surface-level approach to hot-button subjects, but I like how he fashions a frothy entertainment from it. Just because a subject is serious, I don’t expect the treatment to be. – BR
The reason I found the movie just okay are none of the above Mr Br. I didn’t have a problem with the surface level approach nor did I expect a biopic.. in fact the fictionalised parts work better I feel. For me his part should have been written better and the quirkiness/ crazy single mindedness highlighted more. I didn’t buy why he would do what he was doing. I didn’t buy him doing it solely for his wife.. there was something missing there.. I can’t quite put my finger on it. The Sonam Kapoor romantic angle again was a huge turn off! Why the romance it was not necessary at all to the story.. all it did was show that she is urban and a kiss here and there didn’t matter to her? But why should I care about that and her character? Radhika Apte on the other hand was better written and consistent.
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Anu Warrier
February 11, 2018
I generally like Akshay because he tends to put his money down for a cause he believes in. Friends interested in causes have told me how he helps – quietly, with no demands for publicity, or even anything in return. For that, I admire him. However, I also agree with Vidya that I’m getting a tad tired of the public service announcements he’s starring in. I would much prefer a Jolly LLB 2 than another Toilet/PadMan/Gold, etc.
Balki is not a director I like much – come to think of it, he’s pretty regressive though he choose what he are seemingly ‘progressive’ subjects. I find his better half a much better director.
That said, I find the tone of the article a tad disturbing while also agreeing with some of what she says.
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pjarugula
February 11, 2018
I feel not enough is being said about the Sonam angle. It ruins the film. The whole reason Akshay’s character goes through all this is because he wants to make it easier for his wife. In fact, in that whole opening song, he does so many things to make it easier for his wife. Then, he forgets all that and suspects he has fallen in love with Sonam. Also, I doubt that the real Padman had moments like this, so isn’t it almost insulting to add this factor in for the sake of entertainment? It is sad because until this point, the film was going on a nice breezy pace like the review indicates.
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Swati
February 12, 2018
I have known abt Murugan, the man on whom the movie is loosely based, for years. He is and always was ‘famous’. He sells his pad making machine only to rural women entrepreneurs. His heart (and head) is in right place. He continued on this journey even after his wife left him. If he was interested in name and more fame, he could have sold his movie rights to all those who chased him. He never took any calls from Twinkle Kapadia either until one time they both happened to be in London/England. Twinkle was tenacious just like Murugan.
So I am not questioning Twinkle or Murugan’s motives. They both have heart-mind at right places.
The thing about using old clothes for pad is that it is not that big deal. I myself used old clothes for almost 10 years. But when old clothes are replaced by word “rags”, it shocks people. Many people throw away after one time use. Some might wash and reuse these “old” clothes. And in the washing/drying, there could be some contamination. Murugan did right thing by inventing cheap cotton pad and in turn an industry for women entrepreneurs. But using cloth pads that are old clothes is not regressive, just as separating women in different room during periods is not regressive but rather a protective tool in every sense.
The thing about India is that poorest of poor may not have underwear to wear, forget the pad. Instead of free pads, one might donate free underwears to schoold going girls and women! That would make greater difference!
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Akhilan
February 12, 2018
@Anu Warrier I disliked Jolly LLB 2 as much as I disliked Toilet, but you’re spot on with regards to Balki… (Ki and Ka being a perfect example)
As for Akshay Kumar, I personally couldn’t care less for anything he does anymore… It just appears and feels rather pretentious, vacuous even… But it consistently seems to be a winning formula at the box office so… (Sigh…)
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brangan
February 12, 2018
The love angle comes so late in the film and lasts for such a short time (and is treated so glancingly) that it didn’t bother me. Of course, I wish it wasn’t there at all. But it wasn’t such a deal-breaker for me.
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Gayathri Viswanathan
February 12, 2018
I have long heard of Arunachalam Murugan and am and his efforts. He is a sincere social entrepreneur. However the challenge is on the belief that pads are the “good” way during periods. There are better alternatives available now. Goonj is an NGO that is working extensively on this topic in case anyone is interested. The biggest achievement of padman is the fact that the topic has suddenly become popular. There is honest conversation in urban homes as well.
I am looking forward to watching the movie.
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Somya
February 12, 2018
Perhaps a more nuanced take on the ideas in the mythrispeaks article is this one below – https://swarajyamag.com/culture/why-india-doesnt-need-the-sanitary-napkin-revolution
Indian entrepreneurs are doing amazing work in the area of sustainable menstruation(shecup, stonesoup, uger, shomota, soukhyam, idham, soch) to the extent that women plan their purchases around india visits. I haven’t watched the movie but I wonder if it touched upon the impact of disposable hygiene products on the rural environment?
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Rahini David
February 12, 2018
Somya: The article is really better than mythrispeaks. However, even this had an absurd point.
And if school dropouts are due to menstruation, then what about the boys? In most States of India, we have more boys dropping out of school than girls (according to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan survey of 2007). So are we going to distribute Sanitary Napkins to boys then?
Just because toilets and sanitation is not the ONLY reason that students stop going to school, it can’t be discounted as a valid point.
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Vijay
February 12, 2018
Thanks for the review Mr. BR. I havent watched the movie yet, but will surely catch up this weekend. Cynics may say he made a business out of menstrual hygiene; its a large requirement/market in a country of this size. with our cost sensitive people such innovations are just a start to brighter things ahead. On the point of cloth alternatives and cups, I can understand the reasoning on the environmental, waste management stand point. But educating what is available pros and cons like any other consumer product is more productive a discussion than painting everyone with the same brush.
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Somya
February 12, 2018
Rahini: I agree and I’m not really convinced on the support for seclusion related practices either. But I do feel that running headlong into the promotion of disposables as the best solution is a terrible idea. We are struggling with the problem of waste in most Indian cities, I cannot imagine what it will do to rural health if pads start clogging village ponds that people drink out of. Also, I have never seen any woman working as a domestic helper take time out for period leave. I wonder if they are somehow not managing things better than more privileged women. Having used cloth and cup, I also feel that these are better solutions with the latter at least having less visibility.
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Anamika
February 12, 2018
@Venky Ramachandran – I would like to hear a response to that observation as well. Recently saw The Post and came out with a similar feeling – great story, great actors and Spielberg but something about the treatment felt same old and disappointing. It was very hard for me to view the film as is and I kept getting images of War Horse and Bridge of Spies mixing up in my head.
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kaizokukeshav
February 13, 2018
Instead of thinking Arunachalam as a Pad maker, he should be appreciated for making a “product”, because in India we hardly see research on tangible product development from scratch except for food products. Brain-drain and red tape has killed innovation for decades and no Govt dared to change it. This one is a rare spectacle.
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Swati
February 13, 2018
When west create a separation for mensurating women, words such as honor, respect, healing, song, meditation, womanhood… Raise Up a Red Tent Temple! Raise a Woman!
http://redtenttemplemovement.com/
Now that same westerner looks at India and its ancient “red temple” and says regressive, backward, humiliating. inequality.
The shameful thing is that those of us, desi-women, who read these western authors feel in turn regressed and cry feminism!!
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Uma
February 13, 2018
@ Sowya- Yeah house helpers might not taking time off citing periods, but Mandaveli Mamis tell house helps to not come during those 3 days. It is awful the kind of practices that continue surrounding periods in Metro cities in well educated middle class/ upper middle class households.
Also in a Country like India, with such humongous waste management issue, couldn’t they have changed the story with a sustainable product like menstrual cup/cloth than pushing pads
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Rahini David
February 13, 2018
Swati: Most of what I feel about this topic I had covered in this post in my blog mostly under the topics “The Common Dirty Secret” and “The Ritual Uncleanliness and Isolation”
I had not heard about this red tent till you shared this. Adding a comment there regarding the red tent.
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Rahini David
February 13, 2018
Anu Warrier: I have corrected plenty of grammatical mistakes in my post today. It will be easier to read through now. 🙂
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sanjana
February 13, 2018
“Yeah house helpers might not taking time off citing periods, but Mandaveli Mamis tell house helps to not come during those 3 days. It is awful the kind of practices that continue surrounding periods in Metro cities in well educated middle class/ upper middle class households.”
In a way that was good for the maids as they get paid leave for those 3 days!
A compulsory resting period for girls and women. Some benefits are complete rest from household duties and other duties during those uncomfortable days. They spend time reading books, sleeping and eating. And men also use to do cooking if there were no women.
Even now I am seeing this custom being followed in some families. For children, it is a training period to do things without mums.
Some women heave a sigh of relief when periods stop completely. Coping with heavy periods, scanty ones and complications. It is not easy to be a woman.
Pads are a boon to modern women, working women and women in general. The more expensive a pad, the more comfortable. And there are pads to use during ordinary days so as not to soil the panties. Hope every woman whether rich or poor can get these at affordable prices.
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Uma
February 13, 2018
@ Santana- Is it not ironical that we talk about mandatory resting period at home and then also about how pads are great for working women? The women who feel that they should/ women in their family should not enter kitchen during periods have no qualms about working/ sending their daughter to schools during those 3 days.
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sanjana
February 13, 2018
I am just giving other point of view. Not endorsing it.
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sanjana
February 13, 2018
I always have two opinions for anything. I dont want to think of only one opinion. Many times I am self contradictory because every coin has two sides.
At the end of it, I dont support 3 day isolation. A girl died in Nepal due to snake bite when she was staying in some outside hut due to periods and nobody came to her rescue. Of course this is a rare incident.
We have to change with times.
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Uma
February 13, 2018
Thank you Sanjana (sorry for the autocorrect error with your name;) for your comment. What usually gets my goat is the discussion that usually starts with resting during those 3 days actually veers toward purity. And purity is the usual reason for isolation and usually the reason is purported to be resting. What else could be the reason that women in India voluntarily chose to take pills (sometimes even double the dose and not just the bride, mother of bride, MIl, extended family) and force other women in their household to postpone their periods during weddings, religious functions. Why would anyone have to shower again, if a women on periods touched them. I could go an and on. If periods is a normal phenomenon, then why don’t we treat it as such?
Regarding house help mandatory time off- I feel some of the house helps would prefer to take off when they are actually sick rather than forced time off. I would be happier if their employers don’t nitpick with them and talk to them about deducting salaries for time offf when they are actually sick and then also force them to take off when they are on periods.
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sanjana
February 14, 2018
I can write so many funny and tragic things about this so called resting period and other things too. How weddings were fixed keeping in mind this period. How pills were and are used indiscriminately which destroys the health and make women obese. How girls were convinced that it was resting. How toddlers and infants had to wear nothing so that they can flit between purity and impurity. How nosy neighbours kept a watch about periods and made enquiries as to why the girl did not sit. How hypocritical compromises were made to have the cake and eat it too.
Not only this. And how cleaning the floor(after eating) with cowdung used to be compulsory. Dining tables were not allowed. How one should not self serve as it contaminates. How the unguarded clothes were spoilt due to sprinkling of yellow haldi water used to purify the house.
Well, in this respect south has more stringent rules.
Men are also inconvenienced due to these rules executed mainly by women. Just like dowry cases, women are no less in tormenting other women.
Men wrote rules and women followed blindly.
Apart from this, there are too many superstitions regarding day to day life, natural phenomena etc.
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GODZ
February 14, 2018
Another important Insight in AM story is creation of technology and self empowerment. Ours is a land of critics(Sorry BR) where each and every single person have opinions only on fellow people. Whether you go to work place, colleges, school we have a constant group which includes know it all geniuses, selfish parents, Egoistic teachers, Insecure Supervisors at all levels etc who discourage young people from any kind of original thinking. Our society and culture hates failures and mistakes. Ours is a society that shamelessly comes to take part in success but rarely does it encourages mistakes or failures. .
Yes. We do have start ups, we are racing in space etc. But the same people achieve the impossible in foreign lands whereas here because of the mind set of the society that hates disruption, that hates failure, that hates mistakes, that banishes people who have original ideas with discouragement and obstacles, we nip the ideas from the minds of original thinkers.Our education system is rot.
I always have this question when it comes to Indian TV channels(Not NAT or discovery). They have all these songs, dance , idols etc. Why i cannot see one TV program that encourages young people to build things and have a competition on that. Why is it not televised and marketed? Are these people afraid to implant that interest or passion towards science in the minds of young people? Why are our teachers(there are genuine teachers but in majority) are such bummers? As I said in my earlier post, I am not sure how many teachers and professors in engineering college are really qualified to do their jobs.
Anyways, AM is always a inspiration to me. It takes some truly amazing self confidence and some infinite passion for a school dropout to speak confidently of himself and his product in front of the mighty IIM, IIT crowd, bill Gates etc. These are really smart people and If they did not see him and his purpose as genuine, they could have easily i mean easily rejected him as a fool and a cheater. Bravo AM!.
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brangan
February 14, 2018
“Indian TV channels have all these songs, dance , idols etc. Why i cannot see one TV program that encourages young people to build things and have a competition on that.”
A great point, GODZ. Have shared this on twitter.
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Rahul
February 14, 2018
GODZ, but there are programs like that. I know of at least 2 -MTV dropout and The Vault
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sanjana
February 14, 2018
Aamir Khan has all geared up for the second season of his anticipated show, Satyamev Jayate.
A show that serves to the society, Satyamev Jayate will have its first episode dedicated to Dashrath Manjhi who is known for his inevitable efforts he puts in carving out a road from a mountain.
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Madan
February 14, 2018
@ GODZ The business news channels in India do organise competitions around business ideas or new tech. At a more substantial level, CNBC’s Young Turks is a long running program which spotlights emerging businesses, some of which have gone on to do very well. But most people are not interested in watching it because, as in the West, most people switch on the TV to be entertained, not educated. It’s called Idiot Box for a reason! 😛
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sanjana
February 14, 2018
http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-amazing-innovations-from-rural-india/20110316.htm
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GODZ
February 14, 2018
@Rahul. I did not get a chance to Watch those. But I do feel they are more like “Shark Tank” kind of shows where the focus is “more” on business aspect and usability aspect of the business than the technological side of things. I was wondering if we have any shows like that ever something in the lines of “All-American Makers(Science Channel)” that focuses more on technology, science and engineering aspect of things.
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GODZ
February 14, 2018
@Madan..Thats my question too. For example, was it ever tried in Tamil channels? I mean ever? Science, Mathematics, and technology is a dry Subject. No one can sit listen to them unless it’s presented in a way that’s really really interesting. Thee Same audience who love Gravity may not love 2001: Space Odyssey. Its all in the presentation.
But is that not the challenge? I don’t think these programming executives are ready to even try. They want to make safe Bet. Let them do one program and have Rajnikanth or Sharukh or Virat or Tendulkar to handover the First prize to the winner. You will then See in an overnight people will be crazy about science and tech. I guess that’s how it works here. But I am not sure if the executives are ready to promote at that level.
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praneshp
February 14, 2018
@GODZ: I can see your point, and somewhat share your anguish. However, focussing on business and usability is not wrong, and I’d actually argue that it’s a better thing to focus on than tech/science/eng (for TV shows).
(Put in some nice ideas, in presentable states, and throw in a tear or two about how you overcame the odds, bring your brother/sis along that stood by you all the way, and you have a pitch for a Vijay TV show. For even higher TRP, inventors can steal off each other and fight about it)
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Naveen
February 14, 2018
GODZ, the TN satellite TV world is fully taken over by
All these ( except 5 ) are in turn dominated by the film industry have beens or had beens. there is no space for anything else. i have occasionally heard of science or language based quiz shows on AIR.
TV has been restcited to its place as an idiot box. ofcourse one has the choice of not watching it.
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Venky Ramachandran
February 14, 2018
@Anamika: I must clarify the word “Formula” I used above, as it might seem tad too harsh or reductive when I use it in this context. To an artist, the kind of idiosyncrasies which wiggle its way into a story surreptitiously,or the emotional core (like doomed love, in the case of Sanjay Leela Bansali) which get mounted in different cavases with unerring regularity are, at the end of the day, the beloved muses which inspire an artist towards creation.
These set of artistic choices (which could be collectively labeled as aesthetics) define the context, the frame that will anchor the creation for an artist.
The question I am interested to explore ( and i hope BR would be kind enough to join in ) is : When would the restless creative mind of an artist get so bored with his or her own frames that he or she has no other choice but to blow all of them up it for sanity.
Perhaps, the urge to liberate oneself from one’s blinders and frames might come unannounced for an artist to create a “new film” in every sense of the word. New in story. New in one’s aesthetics. Exploring newer emotional cores. Exploring newer baseline of realities.
To give a more recent example, I am curious when would Manikandan say, “I am tired of this realism business. I am going to make a fantasy film for children”. Are there directors who’ve done such wild things before? I don’t know. I am curious.
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Madan
February 14, 2018
“. For example, was it ever tried in Tamil channels? I mean ever? ” – I believe Podhigai has done programmes on such subjects. But who gives Podhigai the time of day? Podhigai once did a very interesting interview where TVG and Embar Kannan sat down with Raja to break down some of the latter’s compositions. But how many actually watched it? I think we need to be honest with ourselves and not blame it on the programmers who are only running a business at the end of the day. In fact, I think this points to one of the problems with a free market arrangement in television broadcasting. When there are too many channels competing for the attention of the same set of viewers, they get desperate and start dumbing down. I once mentioned how wonderful Star’s programming used to be in the 90s. But it made losses so Peter Mukerjea and Sameer Nair cannot be blamed for pivoting sharply towards saas-bahu serials.
But I can at least live with dumbing down because good content is available on youtube or in the form of articles and that’s good enough for me. This problem has a much more detrimental effect, though, on TV news where we have seen the tilt towards sensationalism and, of late, outright war mongering in pursuit of TRPs. This is dangerous and irresponsible but what is of more concern is people easily lap up whatever they show on TV and work up a rage. Once on some subject related to Modi’s handling of the economy, a relative asked me not to watch just NDTV news. I said on the contrary I read ET, Business Standard and Financial Express.:D Covers a wide enough spectrum, right? Wasn’t the proportion of literate population in India much lower (as compared to now) during the time we became independent…and when there was no TV news, just radio and newspapers? Maybe the people were more sagacious though, which is ultimately more important.
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Rahul
February 14, 2018
GODZ, I kind of disagree with you. Firstly ,I think the shark tank format does not exclusively focus on business and usability aspect. Sometimes technical entrepreneurs with crazy valuations and little sales get good deals, because the investors see the potential. Secondly, I think it is also closer to real life. A technical, or any type of, entrepreneur should not insulate themselves from the business aspects of a startup, otherwise they are doomed to fail. The investors are there to make money not to hold their hands.
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Bharathi Shevgoor
February 16, 2018
I felt happy that this taboo topic was touched upon. That, in my opinion, is the biggest win. I wonder if we folks in cities are more orthodox, superstitious and ‘purity-oriented’ than rural folks for whom there are many pressing day-to-day issues to worry about. I’ve not done any research on this but I have my doubts.One movie will not move mountains but it’s a step, right?
I read the articles by Mythrispeaks and Sinu Joseph.I still think we should consider Muruganantham’s intentions and let subsequent events be seen from that perspective.
As for the movie – Radhika Apte was a revelation. Natural and intense in equal measure. Akshay strutted his stuff well and stopped just short of being preachy. I expected Sonam to sound artificial, but surprisingly she didn’t. But that tabla scene…oh dear!
What upset me was the display of the conditioning of the womenfolk, who’ll ensure that the young ones fall in line too. ALL the women in the pre-interval half were orthodox, superstitious, unscientific …call them what you will, it hurt to see. Perhaps it depicted the truth. No wonder, the axiom- the truth hurts. As always a man has to be the saviour. I know it sounds trite and illogical, but it made me feel weary. What a long way we women have to go to unshackle ourselves!
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Anamika
February 16, 2018
@Venky Ramachandran – I am thoroughly intrigued by your question. This thread is fizzling out but perhaps BR will write a post someday on filmmakers who surprise and do so successfully.
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Rahul
February 17, 2018
Anamika and Venky, a certain chap called Kubrick comes to mind.
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Rahul
February 17, 2018
P.S. this is not to say that there aren’t similarities of style in Kubricks movies, but there does seem to be a desire to straddle across genres.
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Venky
February 17, 2018
@Anamika – We can perhaps, keep the thread alive. In the world of music, there have been many artists who have challenged their gharana, the context from which their artistry has come from. Kumar Gandharva’s life is a beautiful testament to this. Inspired from the path of “nirgun”, he refused to be bounded by gharana. He was a pioneer to bring folk music of kabir panthis to the “classical” world. Today, we have TMK challenging the contextual frames of carnatic music. I have very little knowledge of the cinema of Mr. Kubrick. Francois Truffaut is often spoken of as genre-binding authority. However, I don’t have intimate knowledge as to what conventions he broke away from.
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Chandra prakash
February 19, 2018
Hi BR,
I am not sure how much truth is Maithrispeaks blog writer is telling.
Lots of her data is not true including about school absenteeism in NYC. Her data about significant rural women already using sanitary napkins is also not true.
I am a practicing pediatrician in NYC, originally from Karnataka. I have followed Muruganandan’ s info for quite a few years since his TED talk. I have a strong feeling that Organizations like TED wouldn’t hesitate to retract something that is false.
The blogger saying she started distribution at Mount Carmel college in BLR raises very strong doubt , what were the NGO doing distributing pads meant for rural women/ girls in an urban elite college. If anyone knows about MCC as it is known , this college is one of the well known private colleges predominantly accessible to affluent well to do families.what makes her not to write all these for last several years exposing murugandan so far, how do we know some MNC is not funding heR NGO to thwart the low cost production of these pads.
On the other hand I always had and still have a doubt what makes any other Indian non MNC company come up with large scale production of these sanitary pads at a low cost, look at the history Washing powder Nirma which gave a run to Hindustan lever LTD, and why only murugandan should be the one making them.
What difference would that make for Maithrispeaks kind of NGOs if another company made a substantially less expensive pads still maintaining minimum quality.
There’s definitely some opening through this entire murugandan and his low cost pads production in terms of even people discussing menstrual hygeine among Indian men and women.
Regarding school drop outs among post pubertal girls, there is enough public health research from India in Community medicine and social and preventive medicine that the main reason is lack of toilets/ bathrooms for girls to attend to their menstrual periods during school days, yes it is not because of lack of pads but lack of safe toilets .
I don’t know much about the blogger or her NGO, but getting on to bandwagon bashing murugandan efforts one should wait to get a clear picture from all.
By the way, I use a different name Chandra Prakash for my blog posts.
If someone needs my information, they can pm me.
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sanjana
February 19, 2018
Mount Carmel schools and colleges are accessible to both poor and rich. Usually the admissions are merit based as far as I know. Some poor catholics may get admission easily.
Abseentism is also due to pain during periods.
Clean restrooms providing quality pads for a nominal feel may make some difference.
AM has to be applauded for taking up an unusual product and trying his best to promote it. He could have collaborated with some like minded organisations or persons to make the product much more attractive. Even papad and achar makers do this.
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Honest Raj
February 19, 2018
Chandraprakash: Agree with you. Contrary to what the author says, there’s adequate data to show that a lot of girls in rural India drop out of schools due to lack of good toilet facilities.
Further, some of the points raised by her really don’t make sense to me:
“The traditional practices of menstrual seclusion came into being to address practical issues of maintaining hygiene and having privacy and comfort during menstruation, since indigenous women lived in small homes with large joint families.”
Ask any RW apologist about women still not being allowed to visit temples during menstruation. And this would be the classic response – they would go all the way back to the Stone Age and argue how it’s “relevant” even today.
BTW, it took a while for me to realise that the article was published by Swarajya.
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