Rating : Excellent (4.3/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2018
Running time : 2 hours 20 minutes
Director : R. Balki
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte, Sonam Kapoor
Kid rating : PG
Akshay Kumar is Lakshmikant Chauhan, a semi-literate machinist living in his village in Madhya Pradesh. At the beginning of the film, we see him get married to Gayatri (Radhika Apte). When, perchance, one day he spies her hiding a dirty scrap of cloth, he realizes that this is what she uses during her menstruation cycle, a time she is relegated to a little room outside the house. Appalled he tries to get her to use sanitary napkins, but his concern is rebuffed because of the expense, and his “perverted” nosing around in women’s affairs. He does not give up however, and the film takes us through his efforts to produce a low-cost sanitary napkin.
It doesn’t have to be said that Padman is an important film. To think that Bollywood can take head-on the issues of menstrual taboo, and the resultant infections and ignorance that are widespread because of this taboo! Akshay Kumar has a dialog in the film where he tells his wife that women would rather die of diseases because of their “sharm” rather than speak-up and do something about an uncomfortable or dangerous situation. And true it is; menstruation is never spoken of openly, in India the buying of sanitary napkins is a furtive process, the product wrapped in opaque newspaper. While a natural biological process, it is associated with shame, and menstruating women are considered “impure”. Where the sanitary napkin hasn’t made its way – like in rural areas, because of cost or custom, things get even worse.
You probably have heard of the real “Padman” Arunachalam Muruganantham of Coimbatore, who has received many awards and much acclaim for his altruistic work. The film is a little different than actuality because it has been “adapted” for a commercial venture, and by that I mean that director R. Balki has infused the film with emotion and an (unnecessary) romance angle. Still it keeps the spirit of the man’s work. Let’s face it – the subject matter isn’t the most glamorous, so I love that the film keeps close to the central theme and explains the thought process/design of Arunachalam’s machine. Balki has done well.
Padman started low-key and kept that way, almost documentary-ish, until the second half. It got it’s second wind when Pari Walia (Sonam Kapoor) showed up as MBA student, who joins Chauhan in his efforts. Sonam is lovely as the fiercely independent Sardarni, although her character is a concoction; in reality there was no Pari. Radhika Apte as Gayatri is a good fit, while Akshay Kumar brings the earnestly comical Lakshmi to life. The high point of the film is Akshay’s UN talk where Chauhan, in his broken English, still manages to convey the importance of his invention, and the empowerment it brings into women’s lives.
Kidwise: I’m recommending this film for teens and above.
