Through subtle humour and honesty, these series tackled taboo topics with simplicity_

The theme of World Sexual Health Day 2025, ‘Sexual Justice: What Can We Do?’, urges us to break down barriers and bring sexual health discussions into public forums. Popular entertainment, like web series and short films, is one way to spark change.

From the Doordarshan era to newsreels shown in cinema halls during the 1990s, India has produced several educational short films that explore different aspects of sexual health and related issues. This trend continues even today through web series and short-form content.

On this World Sexual Health Day, here is a curated list of three recent web mini-series that have addressed taboos and initiated conversations on sexual health in India

Satya Ki Adalat

A five-part web series by the Population Foundation of India, Satya Ki Adalat was a part of their transmedia initiative ‘Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon’, directed by Feroz Abbas Khan. The series adopts a courtroom-drama format, laced with subtle humour, to address taboos and myths surrounding key sexual and reproductive health topics. The issues it explores include male child preference, masturbation, menstruation, pornography, and virginity, subjects that many are still hesitant to discuss openly. Available on YouTube, the five films in the series have collectively garnered more than three million views.

A World Bank-led Randomized Control Trial (RCT) evaluated online entertainment-education interventions, including Population Foundation of India’s Satya Ki Adalat. The programme effectively improved knowledge and shifted attitudes and behaviours related to GBV and gender norms among urban youth aged 15–24.

Sex Chat with Pappu & Papa

Touted by critics as a much-needed conversation starter, the web series Sex Chat with Pappu and Papa is also India’s first fictional series on sex education. The five-part series, produced by Y-Films (the youth division of Yash Raj Films) and directed by Ashish Patel, uses humour and simple analogies to simplify complex sexual topics in parent–child conversations. Each episode revolves around Pappu, an inquisitive child, and his bemused father, ‘Papa,’ as they address subjects such as masturbation, condoms, pregnancy, periods, and homosexuality in a clean, honest, and engaging manner. It is available on Y-Films’ YouTube channel.

Dr. Arora – Gupt Rog Visheshagya

The comic medical drama web series created by Imtiaz Ali was released in 2022, featuring Kumud Mishra as Dr. Vishesh Arora, a sexologist in small-town North India. Operating out of evening clinics, he treats patients dealing with stigmatized sexual health issues such as erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, nightfall, and sexually transmitted diseases. The series offers a satirical take on societal shame and masculine insecurities surrounding sexual wellness. Vidya Malvade, Raj Arjun, Vivek Mushran, Sandeepa Dhar, and Pitobash Tripathy also star in this eight-episode series.  ‘Dr. Arora – Gupt Rog Visheshagya’ is  available on SonyLiv.