‘Pad Man’ movie review: Watch with your family, it’s not awkward

When “Pad Man” hits the screens on Friday, it will be the first time that actress Radhika Apte won’t be present in Mumbai for her film’s release. I hadn’t been aware of Arunachalam Muruganatham and his efforts before I started working on this film. Then it would’ve been a documentary on me. My wife told me about Arunachalam Muruganantham and then we approached director R Balki.

And this is not the first time that we have heard her candid confession. He believes that now, the focus is on making pads, the symbol of liberated woman.

A young girl teases her brother when he wants to romance his wife, but runs away horrified when she sees a sanitary napkin in his hands. Mr Muruganantham felt the need to come up with a convenient solution to tackle menstrual health for women after he learned his wife used newspaper and rags during her menstrual cycle. There is a dialogue in the movie that says you can only enjoy being a man when you experience being a woman.

“I feel as if women have been made to feel ashamed about their periods, hence, why they don’t speak about it”, she told India-West. “So I think for two people who live and work together to have different attitudes and political and social world-view, it is good to see what you can learn from the other person rather than try to change them and make them like you”, said Twinkle. The man spends years creating and perfecting a sanitary-napkin-making machine. “It is not easy for a woman producer, who are anyway very few in India, to take up subjects which are not very financially successful”, she said, adding, “However, male political leaders can’t be made the villains of the piece”.

PadMan chronicles the journey of entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, who invented low-priced sanitary pad making machine. “So, we tracked him down and asked him if I could write about his work in my book”. From the very beginning she’s been totally involved in all aspects. “And it is this dramatic element that led us to do the film”. “Otherwise how many filmmaking houses can boast of two back to back films talking about sanitary hygiene?” How liberating it is because once you say it and make fun of yourself, what is left for other people to say?

Watch Pad Man. It is a film that deserves to be experienced on the big screen. “I am confident about this film as well”. “I feel every word of it”. I felt they would make a masala movie instead of a menstruation movie, ” he said. “And will not succumb to myths”. It was only after repeated requests, the man, who keeps low key, agreed to give his nod. I’m happy to see that and look forward to many more to join in. “It’s a sin”. Imagine some people thinking that holding a sanitary pad is a sin”. The characters in the supporting cast seem to be in a race for over-acting – be it Akshay’s onscreen mom or random background characters in every frame, they look like they were simply lifted from a 60s movie. “With menstrual hygiene being a global issue, I hope it becomes part of the wider worldwide discourse, too”. “No, there were no disagreements”. She plays a social-worker, who helps Akshay’s character in his mission.

Last month, Akshay Kumar shifted the release of PadMan to ensure a smooth release for Bhansali’s Padmaavat.