Bollywood packs safe sex lesson in new film

MUMBA (Reuters Life!) - After handling mature themes like marital blues and surrogate motherhood, Bollywood is making a film on teenage pregnancy, a sign that more serious scripts are becoming popular with viewers.

"Tere Sang" (With You), to be directed by Satish Kaushik, aims to inform viewers about unsafe sex and raise the issue of providing sex education, especially to Indian youth.

Sex education in largely conservative India is a moral flashpoint, with educators saying such knowledge will reduce HIV rates and critics fearing it will corrupt young minds.

"It tells the viewers how a romance between a 17-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl takes a dramatic turn when the girl accidentally becomes pregnant," said Kaushik.

"Many teenagers today are into unprotected sex and I wanted to reach out to them and tell them how and why they should be careful with their lives."

"Tere Sang", expected to open later this year, will be sensitive in its approach to the subject, he said.