Padman strikes again: ‘Oscar for Period. End of sentence. will create awareness’

COIMBATORE: Coimbatorebased social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham is unmoved by the adulation he is receiving after the film ‘Period. End of sentence.’ that is based on his work won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.

The man who is renowned for having invented a machine to make low-cost sanitary napkins is more excited about the awareness the film could create. “The taboo regarding menstruation exists across the world, even among the educated… the films, and the awards they bag, garner national and international awareness to a massive extent. The number of people they reach out to in a couple of weeks or months, on my own I would take 20 years. And in India, people prefer seeing to reading. So, I consider these films as awareness creation tools.”

Muruganantham, whose 2018 biopic ‘Padman’ was well received, wanted to offer something new when this film’s team approached him. “Padman was about my early life and struggles, including my wife calling me a psycho and leaving me. Since it was a commercial film it also could delve deep into the extent of stigma that exists,” he said.

‘Public perception of menstruation changed’

Muruganantham said, “I suggested they make a film purely on how this machine transforms the lives of women and girls in an extremely backward village in the country. I had already planned to install a machine at Hapur, a small village in UP, and suggested they follow me. I said the plan could fail too, but they agreed.”

The 26-minute film is about women in the country fighting the many taboos and stigma regarding menstruation. It follows Muruganantham first entering the village, interacting with the girls and installing a sanitary pad vending machine, and training a woman to use the machine secretly.

Muruganantham revealed that many shots of women being trained and he even interacted with were shot with a hidden camera. “This film showcases the real India,” he said. Muruganantham is positive that public perception of menstruation has changed after these films. “When I started my research, hardly 5% of the country was using sanitary napkins. But now it has already grown to 35%. The film Padman, I believe, would make it jump by at least another 10%. It makes menstruation a talking point at least among youngsters in rural areas. Many uneducated but smart women from rural areas have actually called me to tell me about how they liked the film, and have not only begun using sanitary napkins but are convincing other women too to use them… These films and awards also help spread awareness among other countries. The short film can be used by 188 countries which are more backward than India.”

“I honestly did not expect it to win, which is why I did not go to Los Angeles. It has won because of the female members of the jury. I only knew about the victory after my phone began ringing and beeping continuously on Friday morning. I am pleasantly surprised. These awards don’t matter to me much, in fact I have not displayed a single award including the Padmashree. But they help me spread awareness on the issue much faster,” he says. Period. End of Sentence. was nominated along with Black Sheep, End Game, Lifeboat and A Night At The Garden.