So let’s talk about sex. What? You don’t want to? What do you mean you’re embarrassed? Why? Wait where are you going?! Who the hell is supposed to explain this stuff to me?

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“Balak Palak” premiered at the South Asian Film Festival Friday night.

These are the questions many adolescents face as they grow older and attempt the decipher one of nature’s most confounding experiences. Sex. And those kids who grow up in communities (especially India) where such talk and communication is considered taboo, the ramifications can be particularly damaging.

This is the premise of “Balak Palak”, a film directed by Ravi Jadhav and co-produced by Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh, which premiered at the South Asian International Film Festival Friday night. Set in a colony in Maharashtra, four adolescent friends Avya, Bhagya, Chiu and Dolly attempt to figure out the answers to their questions about the birds and the bees. But without answers from their parents and other elders, they have to employ other means to satiate their curiosity.

I didn’t grow up in situation like this but as an Indian-American with a family that approaches the taboo subject very similarly, the film was astoundingly relate-able. And I imagine this will be the case for many people in India.

Unlike here in America, where internet speeds are blazing fast and access to such things are at everyone’s fingertips, these kids in “Balak Palak” had to employ more clever tactics. Whether that was hiding their adult books in secret areas of the colony or surreptitiously getting a “blue film” and VCR from a nearby video store. The first time the kids actually watch the film is hilarious. Jadhav smartly focuses the camera on the kids’ faces as they see the movie unfold. The scene is uproarious and the child actors (most of whom never even acted before Jadhav said) knock it out of the park.

The most striking performance of the film belonged to Kishore Kadam, who portrayed the stern eldest uncle of the colony trying to figure out what these kids are doing. The film makes it very clear that much of the onus goes directly to the parents and mentors of these kids when it comes to communication. Kadam’s character symbolizes that responsibility and the evolution of that realization is played to perfection.

Jadhav wisely uses humor as a tool of exposition and awareness in “Balak Palak.” There was never a point where I felt uncomfortable watching the movie and that’s very important. Most of the time, I was simply laughing and relating to the story. For the film to work in India, this was the best way to shoot the subject and I think Jadhav nailed the balance.

His hope is that the film spreads the word about communicating with your children about sensitive issues like sex. “Balak Palak” has a chance to become a landmark film in the region because Jadhav is talking about it while others are not.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdCkmhFLeXc&feature=plcp