Narrated by Lt. Col. M.K. Sinha himself, the Gillette Man Enough film follows the true story of how his life changed when a bullet tore through his jaw in the line of duty. It chronicles his physical and mental anguish in dealing with this crippling injury, showing us how regressive stereotypes of masculinity discouraged him from accepting his pain. However, this changed when his father, whom he considered the paragon of manliness, visited him in hospital. His father’s display of emotions inspired him to embrace his own, leading to him shedding tears for the first time in his adult life.

This moment redefined his notions of manliness and taught him that expressing emotions doesn’t make one weaker – in fact it makes them stronger and more complete. Gillette championed his inspiring story, hoping to spark change in the perceptions of manliness that the next generation of men would aspire to.

One of the most iconic lines in Bollywood is ‘Mard ko dard nahi hota’ i.e. men feel no pain. In a patriarchy like India, children inherit such stereotypes from their greatest masculine influence – their fathers. Reinforced by pop culture, role models and society overall, this makes young boys believe that hiding pain and distancing emotions are defining features of being a man, causing severe repercussions in their mental makeup.

Gillette wanted to tackle this notion of toxic masculinity, and groom the next generation of men to be the best they can be. Doing so meant defining a new standard of manliness that encouraged young men to accept their flaws. One that inspired them to realise that showing vulnerability makes them no less of a man, in fact, they should celebrate the fact that they’re man enough to do so.

The film opens on a framed photograph. It’s a tight shot of the Colonel's father.

"That’s the toughest man I know, Air Force Veteran Bishwanath Sinha… my Dad."

We then see shaky footage of the Colonel as a young boy, running away scared.

"I remember as a child I was chased by an angry bull, and I ran straight towards him crying."

After which we see an old image of a young Colonel and his Dad – cut to the present-day, with the colonel being interviewed.

"He held me in his arms and said - Wipe those tears off. You’re a man."

The screen cuts to black and an image of a wounded Colonel appears with two supers next to it.

Super:

On 31st May 2000, a bullet tore through the jaw of Lt Col Manoj Kumar Sinha in the line of duty.

Super:

What follows is his true story.

We go into a dramatic reenactment of his story. We see a man being wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher – the nurses and doctors take him into the operation theatre.

In the OT, we see a suturing procedure in process – bloodied scalpels, hemostat scissors and dripping gauzes are dropped into a suturing tray – we see X-rays of his dislocated jaw displayed up on a screen in there – interspersed within is the interview footage with the present-day colonel.

"I guess I stopped crying because I wanted to be like him. Tough and strong."

We see a pitiful image of the Colonel, heavily bandaged with tubes and suction pipes sticking out of his face – later we see him wincing in pain as the bandages are removed – we see him being fed by tubes.

"So no matter how hard you’ve taken a hit…No tears."

We cut to an actual photograph of the Colonel post-surgery, he's lying unconscious with massive stitches across his face.

We see him broken and dejected lying down on his bed. His wife and children are around him.

"So I hid. I hid my pain like Dad would want me to."

We see him up at night, pensively staring at the ceiling fan as he contemplates his fate.

The present-day Colonel then speaks to the camera.

"I did not want him to see my wounds… that I am weak."

Cut to the hospital room where the Colonel's father enters and sits next to him.

We hear the Colonel's voice: "I was being a man..."

His father looks up and swallows a lump in his throat, forcing a smile.

Eventually, his father tears up looking at the plight of his son – he moves to hold and embrace him.

We hear the Colonel's voice: "But this time, he didn’t ask me to wipe my tears off."

We see the two of them break down in each other’s arms, as the music swells.

Colonel's VO: "That moment changed it all!"

We see this moment through the eyes of his young daughter, who's witnessing two grown men not holding back their tears.

His Dad helps him up and gently takes him towards the bathroom.

Colonel's VO: "That’s the day we both realized that showing what you really feel doesn’t make you less of a man."

His Dad then applies foam on the Colonel's face, as he picks up the Mach 3 razor.

Colonel's VO: "It was ok for boys to cry."

We cut back to the interview as the Colonel says, "Men can cry... Even soldiers can cry."

We cut to a shaving shot that collapses the reenactment with the present-day Colonel, as he finishes his shave with the Mach3. We see the razor comfortably glide over his scar.

He says, "Because our pain reveals the best in us!"

We see a dramatic shot of the father-son duo, as they look into camera unmaksed of their notions of masculinity.

Super –

THE BEST A MAN CAN BE

The screen cuts to black and we see two actual videos of the Colonel – first an archival video of him receiving a gallantry award, and the other as he delivers a speech to the youth at the Gillette Achievers Academy.

Super:

Lt Col Manoj Kumar Sinha was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry.

Super:

He’s now part of the Gillette Achievers Academy that pledges to inspire men to rethink their notions of manliness.

#ShavingStereotypes

Gillette