Inspired from the life of Arunachalam Muruganatham, the man who invented the machine that manufactures sanitary pads, Padman is a short story from twinkle Khanna’s book “THE LEGEND OF LAXMI PRASAD” Akshay Kumar plays the role of Lakshmikant Chouhan, a mechanic who lives in a village in MP (MADHYA PRADESH).
The movie starts with his wedding to Gayatri (played by Radhika Apte), soon after which he notices the problems faced by his wife during menstruation. She uses a dirty cloth to clean the blood which makes Lakshmi anxious of the health dangers his wife was subjecting herself to, it propels him to make a low-cost sanitary pad that was equal to the high-cost pads available in the market, However his efforts backfire when his initial attempts at making a successful sanitary pad fails and makes the entire village call him “MADMAN” thus starts his journey from “MADMAN” to “PADMAN”.
To elaborate more on Kumar’s character even Amitabh Bachchan is seen in a cameo to show respect to the mighty Padman
Kumar is shown as a knave to all his efforts which could turn to be the next big thing, which in turn brings a bit of humour in the movie. The division between the classes and the masses plays an important role in the film as well. Balki and Kirkire have creatively deconstructed Twinkle’s story to build a narration of their own. We can also appreciate the plot development of the film while the pre-interval part focuses more on the countryside(village) the post-interval period moves the plot more towards Delhi and Indore.
The second half of the movie plays out well with the entry of Sonam Kapoor into the movie. Sonam’s character is purely an outcome of Balki’s imagination; she plays the role of a table cum M.B.A student who acts a catalyst in recognizing Lakshmi’s vision. While Lakshmi’s poor English has been completely ignored, full focus has been on the menstrual health of women.
Sonam is known for her often taken feminist stands, thus she fits quite well into her role but her lack of acting skills do look weak in front of her far more experienced co-actor Akshay Kumar.
But her character is associated with Kumar’s in a romantic way. In Murugatham’s story, he did confess an attraction towards his English tutor and that’s what Balki has cashed upon. We somewhat feel that this part could have been chopped off provided Kumar was already shown married, but nonetheless, it adds to the crispiness of the film.
Radhika Apte somewhat looks unutilized in the film, although she does justice to her role by her strong acting, but we feel Balki could have given her a deeper character, probably a less gullible one it could have brought deepness to her character.
Amit Trivedi’s music brings a feeling of freshness into the film. The cinematography does nothing but promoting MP tourism, but still somehow manages to give sense to Kumar’s pad making efforts.
Overall PADMAN does not pack a punch of great entertainment that the viewers expect from Akshay Kumar’s films, but it can be regarded as one of his best movies in terms of his acting. After watching the movie I am sure you’ll be happy that your money was well utilized. The film plays an important role in spreading social awareness and is great for women who feel shy in sharing their issues with other. But for people expecting a lot after watching PADMAVATI, I suggest u look elsewhere. Moreover, it’s a great movie which we strongly recommend watching with your family.
Our rating for PADMAN:-3/5
