helmet release: Aparshakti Khurana and Pranutan Bahl appear in Today, September 3, Helmet will be available on OTT. He follows in the footsteps of his elder brother Ayushmann Khurrana by making his debut as a lead actor in a film that takes a humorous look at a very taboo topic.
As directed by Satram Ramani, Helmet is co-produced by actor Dino Morea and explores India’s contraceptive taboos, including how difficult it is for males to acquire condoms and how it affects couples’ sex life in our country. A newlywed named Luck (Khurana) is recruited by a buddy to steal an e-commerce truck in order to get some fast cash.
Films that deal with themes that still make us uncomfortable have been increasingly popular in Bollywood in recent years, and this trend will continue. Before, such films were a rarity and rarely received acclaim from the public, no matter how good they were. A unique plot and a stigmatised topic became the ultimate selling factor for Bollywood films as the new millennium dawned, but the industry’s approach to such issues altered over time.
Also, there have been a number of additional Hindi-language feature films which have explored a wide range of topics that are relevant to everyday life. Several films, such as Shubh Mangal Zyidda Saavdhan and Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, have attempted to bring same-sex love to the mainstream cinema. When Tabu and Amitabh Bachchan starred in Cheeni Kumm, they addressed the stigma of a large age gap between a couple, a subject that was also addressed in Dil Chahta Hai, in which a young man falls in love with an older lady.
We can only hope that filmmakers will continue to tackle taboo themes long after it ceases to be a fad that draws audiences to the theatre out of curiosity.
