As the world observes World Toilet Day on November 19, it’s worth celebrating how Bollywood has transformed bathroom fixtures traditionally never discussed in mainstream Indian cinema into powerful storytelling tools to challenge societal taboos. From sanitation to intimate health matters, five remarkable Bollywood films have dared to break the silence around topics India once considered unspeakable.
Breaking the Silence: Bollywood’s Most Courageous Toilet Talk Films
1. ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ (2017) – When Love Meets Sanitation
Perhaps the most direct approach came with Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar’s landmark film, ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’, which literally put a toilet at the center of a love story. Based on the true story of Anita Narre from Madhya Pradesh who refused to return to her husband’s home due to the absence of a toilet, the film brilliantly used a marriage conflict to spotlight rural India’s open defecation crisis.
The film’s genius lay in normalizing what had been taboo: a woman demanding basic sanitation as a non-negotiable right. Director Shree Narayan Singh managed to weave entertainment with hard statistics, showing that 54 percent of Indians lacked access to proper toilets. The film’s dialogue, “This is not about defecation; it is about our whole way of thinking,” became a rallying cry. By addressing open defecation as a dignity and health issue, particularly for women, the film brought a crisis affecting 419 million Indians into mainstream conversation. The film became the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of 2017 and received three Filmfare Award nominations.
2. ‘PK’ (2014) – The Alien’s Bathroom Awakening
Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘PK’ took a subtler yet equally powerful approach to social satire. In one memorable scene, an innocent alien (Aamir Khan) unaware of earthly customs, traps a man dressed as Lord Shiva inside a toilet, mistaking him for God. This absurdist moment brilliantly satirized superstition, religious exploitation, and the contradiction embedded in Indian society: where open defecation remains prevalent, yet superstitions dictate that toilets cannot exist near prayer spaces.
The scene encapsulates how deeply embedded taboos are in Indian consciousness. The alien’s confusion, why would a toilet be unsuitable near a sacred space? forced audiences to question their own beliefs about purity and pollution linked to bodily functions. By questioning such irrational norms through an outsider’s perspective, the film highlighted how ridiculous these societal barriers truly are.
3. ‘Padman’ (2018) – Redefining Menstrual Dignity
Akshay Kumar’s second foray into bathroom-related taboos came with ‘Padman’, inspired by social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham’s mission to revolutionize menstrual hygiene. While not explicitly toilet-centric, the film addressed sanitation’s intimate connection to women’s dignity and health during menstruation.
The film’s most powerful moment featured Kumar publicly holding up a sanitary pad, an act that would have been unthinkable in mainstream Indian cinema years prior. By challenging the stigma where even uttering “menstruation” was forbidden, ‘Padman’ sparked a nationwide conversation about an issue affecting millions of girls who lack access to affordable, hygienic period management solutions. Women in traditional households face restrictions on entering kitchens and places of worship during menstruation, creating invisible crises surrounding bodily autonomy and space access. The film demonstrated that breaking taboos requires mainstream male actors willing to be vulnerable, potentially facing ridicule to normalize essential conversations.
4. ‘Phullu’ (2017) – The Underrated Sanitation Champion
Often overshadowed by ‘Padman’, ‘Phullu’ deserves equal credit for tackling menstrual hygiene in rural settings. This quietly impactful film follows a village man (Sharib Hashmi) who discovers his wife’s struggles during menstruation and begins creating affordable sanitary napkins, facing ridicule from his community in the process.
What made ‘Phullu’ remarkable was its unflinching portrayal of rural taboos. The protagonist’s mother calls him a “sissy” for engaging with “women’s issues,” while villagers ostracize him for discussing menstruation publicly. By centering a man’s journey toward empathy and education, the film challenged toxic masculinity while normalizing discussions about bodily functions. Shot in just 14 days, the film achieved something significant: it reached rural audiences who had never seen sanitary napkins discussed on screen, creating awareness where awareness was most needed.
5. ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ (2017) – Intimate Health Beyond Shame
Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ approached taboo differently, addressing erectile dysfunction, a male sexual health issue closely tied to shame and bathroom privacy. The film explored how societal pressure destroys male sexual health, keeping men from seeking medical help due to masculine insecurity.
By making a mainstream film about erectile dysfunction with a major star, the film normalized conversations about intimate bathroom-related health issues. Medical professionals reported increased patient visits for erectile dysfunction consultations post-release, proving cinema’s remarkable power to translate shame into seeking solutions. The film showed that men’s sexual health, like women’s menstrual health, deserves open, dignified discussion without judgment.
Why Toilets Matter in Bollywood Storytelling
These five films share a revolutionary principle: sanitization equals dignity. Whether it’s open defecation, menstrual hygiene, or sexual health, all are intrinsically linked to bathroom spaces and body autonomy. By centering these conversations in entertaining narratives featuring A-list stars, Bollywood made the unspeakable speakable.
World Toilet Day reminds us that 3.5 billion people globally lack safely managed sanitation, and around 419 million practice open defecation. Bollywood’s cultural intervention proves that cinema can shatter taboos where policy papers fail, one toilet story at a time. As India continues its journey toward universal sanitation and health awareness, these five films stand as testament to entertainment’s transformative power in creating social change.
By – Sonali