Padman
- Kanza Zafar
- Dec 16, 2017
- 2 min read
Directed by R. Balki
Starring
Akshay Kumar as Lakshmikant Chauhan
Radhika Apte as Gayatri
Sonam kapoor as Rhea
The trailer of Akshay Kumar’s upcoming film Padman is out. We have Amitabh Bachan’s voice preface the trailer by explaining that Padman is a superhero too, much like Superman. In a society where female hygiene is still treated with the same secrecy afforded to “he who must not be named” from Harry Potter, he may as well be.
No doubt Akshay Kumar believes in turning the tide on taboos through films, and he’s back with Padman, bringing the same combination of charm, comedic timing and a strong message that made Toilet such a success. Padman seems to be unashamed to talk about the process some people would still rather believe doesn’t exist; menstruation.
The film is based on the biopic of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man who came up with the revolutionary method of engendering cost-effective sanitary napkins and empowered thousands of women across the country in the process. After twenty years, Muruganantham’s company named “Jayshree Industries” with its 4,500 plants in fourteen states, has provided lower-class women with their basic right of hygiene during menstruation.
Muruganantham, who is a school dropout, is the real force behind India’s sanitary pad revolution but his own peregrination didn’t prove to be a bed of roses for him. Padman chronicles this very journey.
The trailer shows the isolation faced by the titular Padman after he pitches the idea of a sanitary pad to a room full of people. He’s humiliated, avoided by most and on top of all that, his better half abandons him. Against all odds though, a ray of hope enters his life in the form of a social worker, Rhea. She encourages him and eventually helps him get his idea off the ground.
The three-minute trailer unfolds the story involving predominantly humor (A fun chant repeating “superhero” plays in the background) Yet comedy appears to be a means to get the message across. Overwhelmingly the trailer keeps the contentious idea at the center, as shall the film hopefully, and has an inspiring feel to it. Although most of the film is shot in the setup of a village, it will be interesting to see how it will chronicle his journey to procuring international stardom.
So here’s a fun question; would a man rather listen to women talk about the problems they face during menstruation, or stuff his ears with tampons/pads? Oh, the irony of the latter. In the film, Muruganantham is shown to use a pad even on himself. Truly a hero, in the most unsarcastic way possible. That’s a bold move and this seems to be a bold film.
Directed by R Balki, “Padman” is a movie based on Twinkle Khanna's book, “The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad” which is all set to hit the cinemas on 26 January, 2018.
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