BollywoodTales

Can films turn the tide on taboos? Akshay Kumar sure believes so and after delivering Toilet Ek Prem Katha, he is now back with PadMan. As the Padman trailer was revealed this morning, one thing is clear — it is going to normalise the discussion around menstrual hygiene. The film, which also stars Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in lead roles, promises to be the story of a social awakening, told through the lens of humour.

The trailer begins with a narration from Amitabh Bachchan who calls PadMan India’s answer to the superheroes of the US. Akshay has the idea to make sanitary napkins for women and is even shown trying some on in a pink underwear himself. He pitches the idea to his sisters and his wife (Radhika Apte), who all feel ashamed to even discuss the sanitary health with their brother and husband respectively.

Embarrassed by his noble pursuits, his wife leaves him and the people of his village shun him. That is until hope walks back into his life in the form of a social worker (Sonam Kapoor) who helps him realise his dreams.

Soon, the village embarrassment’s venture takes off, women buy his pads and IITians study him and his work.

Check out the Padman trailer:

Radhika plays Akshay’s wife and the inspiration behind all that he accomplished for women’s menstrual health. Sonam is the one who helps him do it all. All actors fit their roles quite well but Radhika shines the brightest with her innocent charm.

In this R Balki-directorial, the Toilet: Ek Prem Katha star is stepping into the shoes of national hero Arunachalam Muruganantham — the inventor of low-cost sanitary napkins for women in rural areas. Produced by Twinkle Khanna’s Mrs Funnybones Productions,the film has been a passion project of the couple since she wrote a newspaper column on women’s sanitary health and the stigma associated with it, two years ago.

Talking to Business Insider, Akshay had said then, “I didn’t want to make a documentary… I wanted to make a commercial film so people can see it. It’s a film you can take your children to, even though it talks about sanitary pads. It’s a universal subject. Nobody has ever tried to touch this subject.”

Check out Padman posters:

Twinkle, who is debuting as a producer with the film, said in the report, “I was immediately gripped by the story of this man on two levels. One, because it was about menstruation; and two, because it was a story about somebody who persevered against everything, who lost his wife, who was ostracized from his village. He did not give up.”

Meanwhile, Bollywiid cannot stop applauding the film and thought behind it. While Varun Dhawan wrote the trailer “shows us why he’s a real superhero”, Dhanush applauded the film’s director Balki for the sensitive portrayal.

The film is slated to release on the Republic Day and will clash with Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Aiyaary at the box office.

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