Since 2013, 19th November every year has been celebrated as World Toilet Day. The point of this day is to have better sanitation and hygiene across the world. In India the whole sanitation issue has been focused on ending open defecation and manual scavenging. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha is one important film raising social awareness for this cause.

This Akshay Kumar film released 2 years ago but the film remains relevant even today. The most important statistic proving this is that the target for India to end open defecation is 2030 which suggest we still have a long way to go. In India over 200,000 children die due to lack of good sanitation while women are forced into unsafe situations since they are made to defecate in the open too.

Watch a snippet of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha which tackles these issues with a small dose of humour.

Bhumi Pednekar’s character in the movie is treated like a villain by some people for just demanding a toilet in the house. When she goes outside, one time her father-in-law catches her in the fields another time she goes on a train only to use a toilet, but then the train leaves with her. It highlights how even if laws and initiatives are amended to give women their rights, the backward mindset will still try to hold them back.

This film is satire at it’s best, with dialogues from every character offers sharp criticism of society and what it needs to change. Some of the dialogues from Bhumi Pednekar’s character will make you shift in your seat. Anupam Kher also delivers some of the best lines in the movie defending his daughter’s demand for a toilet. There’s no shortage of comedy either, with dialogues like ‘Aashiqon ne Aashiqui me Taj Mahal Bana Diya, Hum ek sandaas nahi bana sakein‘.

Akshay and Bhumi’s characters have a very unique relationship on Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Their marriage is in trouble because of a toilet. The movie smartly uses the importance of marriages in Indian society to push the importance of toilets in households.

Re-watch this socially relevant film, streaming on ZEE5 and further raise awareness for sanitation and hygiene this year. Binge-watch some of Akshay Kumar’s biggest hits streaming on ZEE5.