Arunachalam Muruganantham is an innovator from India who first became known in 2012 thanks to his machine that produces cheap and durable menstrual pads for women in India. Six years and a lot of success later, his story is now a Bollywood movie by the name of PadMan.

Muruganantham first started to work on his innovation thanks to his wife. Upon seeing her use old rags that he “wouldn’t even clean his two-wheeler with”, he started experimenting with different materials using his wife and sisters as test subjects.

Menstrual pads in India, at the time of Muruganantham’s first foray into the research, were too expensive for most women to use regularly and the social stigma around menstruation added to the lack of access to hygienic menstrual products.



Still, 40 percent of women in India don’t have access to sanitary products during their period.