The participatory movement that aims to dethrone the colonial approach to development and communication for social change had to confront its counterfeits as soon as the concept gained currency in 1970s. Participatory approaches have been institutionalized and co-opted. Such participatory models have not led to any significant empowerment (Thomas & van de Fliert, 2015), instead have often orchestrated and reproduced marginalization and exploitation (Dutta, 2011). Co-optation, like any other oppression according to Freire (1970), would continue unless the oppressed/exploited not only emancipate themselves, but also aid the liberation of the oppressors from the oppressive culture, steering structural transformation. Founded on the principles of Freire’s critical pedagogy, Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the oppressed (TO) (1979) aims to emancipate the poor and the oppressed. Jana Sanskriti (JS), based in the Indian state of West Bengal, perhaps the first Indian exponent of Boal’s TO, has been practicing one of the variants of TO called Forum theatre (FT) since the early 1980s. JS’s FT practice has not only been able to give voice to the oppressed women, but has also been able to change the men’s attitudes towards gender equality, and significantly contributed to reducing the practice of child marriage in some parts of Bengal (Brahma et al., 2019). JS has been addressing various problems like domestic violence, rural employment, provision of quality education and health services, which are also encapsulated in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. With the help of FT, JS is striving to create and sustain democratic, participatory, and inclusive communicative spaces in rural West Bengal. This study aims to analyse and highlight how Forum Theatre can contribute to SDGs, and to identify and document cases of social movements initiated by JS that has addressed/addressing some of the key SDGs. This paper is part of my on-going doctoral research, based on an ethnographic study in purposively sampled villages of West Bengal.