High-school pass, jobless Lucky (Aparshakti Khurana) is in love with Rupali (Pranutan Behl) from a well-to-do background. What she sees in him is a mystery, but then who knows with lovers, right? Big bucks are required to appease snarling dad (Ashish Vidyarthi). The only way out for Lucky and his pals is to dream up a bananas get-rich-quick idea which involves robbery, a whole stack of condoms, and a town where not one soul can look at a prophylactic without turning red.

Helmet's story is bookended by data. The first scene has NGO workers talking about how India's population keeps increasing, but not the sale of condoms. Before the end credits we have a snippet of PM Narendra Modi's speech that talks of population explosion and how that will affect our nation's growth. In the middle, there is an attempt to weave a story around why the use of condoms is such a taboo subject. 'Attempt' is the operative word here.

Even today, majority of people in India are hesitant to buy condoms from stores, and others are embarrassed to even utter the word. But is it possible to make a film around this subject? Turns out, it is. Helmed by Satram Ramani, this satire openly discusses the use of 'Nirodh' (contraceptives) and the social and psychological challenges that come with it.

Satramm Ramani's Helmet, ZEE5's latest offering, is no better than a badly produced ad film for condom propagation. Ramani's work is the ultimate in what a movie should not be, never be, in fact. Coming after films like Vicky Donor on sperm donation and Shubh Mangal Saavdhan on erectile dysfunction, both headlined by Ayushmann Khurrana, which spoke about intimate subjects with utmost sensitivity, carefully avoiding vulgarism, Helmet appears really disappointing. A novel premise, though, completely wasted by ham-handed treatment.

Across the world, men by and large tend to place the onus for birth control on women. This despite the fact that condoms and vasectomy are simple and safe, whereas every single contraceptive and permanent sterilisation option devised for women is complex with serious potential side effects. The situation is troubling in any country, but in India where the population explosion is a grave threat, it is particularly challenging and has been a long-standing hurdle in the path of the National Family Planning Programme.