Viagra (the drug used to treat erectile dysfunction) is often dubbed as the “little blue pill” by the media and public.

But few are aware there is also a much cheaper and more effective version of the same pill: Viagra films.

They have been around for the last five years in India.

Unlike pills, which are swallowed, the Viagra films also known as S-films or Sildenafil films are placed under the tongue.

The film works faster as it disintegrates and goes directly into the bloodstream, unlike the tablet, which first goes to the stomach and then to the liver, before it starts to work.

The entire process can take anywhere from 45 minutes up to an hour. 

With films, this reaction time is reduced almost drastically (about 10 to 15 minutes). Also the possibility of the drug getting destroyed by mixing with food in the stomach is also eliminated.

Viagra/films can be of immense benefit to diabetic patients who often complain that their erection is not “that stiff.”

The drug is absolutely safe for them. What the medicine does is it enhances an already achieved erection. For instance, if you have 25 per cent erection, Viagra will take it to 95 per cent.

When Viagra was launched in India (in 2005, nearly seven years after its international debut) there were apprehensions on whether the drug was suitable for the Indian population.

I was appointed as the principal investigator to determine its efficacy and possible side-effects, if any.  

One side-effect often talked about in relation to Viagra is Priapism or prolonged and painful erection. But in my entire career I haven’t come across a single case of Priapism due to Viagra. I have prescribed the pill to more than 15,000 people till date.

This is not to say that Viagra doesn’t have any side-effects at all. Two or three out of 10 people who take Viagra can experience a headache.

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(Dr Prakash Kothari is India’s pioneering sexologist. In conversation with Sangeeth Sebastian, writer and founder, Vvox, a sextech platform. The biography is a part of an AKADialog initiative to capture the lives of newsmakers.)