bobandlulureview I had watched the trailer of PadMan, found it hilarious and was eagerly waiting to watch this movie. The wait was lengthened by a delayed release in a show of solidarity by Akshay Kumar to make way for Padmaavat. The movie is based on the book written by Twinkle Khanna titled "The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad" which in turn was inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham who invented sanitary napkin machines that manufactured cost-efficient pads making it affordable to rural Indian women. I generally look forward to Akshay Kumar starrers and I went to the theatre with high expectations. Moreover, I went with my crazy bunch of friends who, like me, do not believe in muffled laughter! The movie begins with a song that shows Lakshmikant Chauhan (Akshay Kumar) making minor inventions to save his wife Gayatri (Radhika Apte) from the inconvenience of stinging eyes while chopping onions and bumpy rides, sitting on the cycle's cross bar (A reminder that the film showcases life in the 1990s when people didn't have the convenience of viewing easy life-hacks on YouTube) The film was shot in a village near Indore and records the journey of Lakshmi who initially starts off with wanting his wife to have better menstrual hygiene by using sanitary napkins rather than continue using the cloth. When she refuses to use the pad on account of the steep price, he takes it upon himself to make affordable pads not only for her but also for other women in his village. However, all attempts at getting his wife and other women to use the pads he made, fail. Lakhsmi is now labelled a pervert in his village who despite many a warning continues to meddle in "ladies' affairs" and speak openly about "that, which should not be named". Gayatri returns to her brother's house claiming that she'd rather die of unhygienic conditions than of shame that has befallen her. Lakshmi leaves his village and sets out on a quest that leads him to invent the sanitary napkin manufacturing machine and this is where Pari (Sonam Kapoor) makes her entry. Pari encourages Lakshmi on his journey of manufacturing affordable pads and distribute it amongst the rural women and also ends up with the pad being named after her. Though the length of time is not divulged, Lakshmi makes the headlines by winning an award at IIT and later on, the Padma Shri and is now looked up to by the people in his village. I had a sense of déjà vu whilst sitting through the whole film. It reminded me of 'Toilet', another Akshay Kumar starrer that had a similar storyline. The Husband in an attempt to improve the wife's state of living, brings to light a much larger albeit a taboo issue, the whole process which has him shunned by not only the society but also proved tumultuous to his marriage. The movie, although has its funny bits, is a bit slow. The second half had us yawning and constantly checking our phones with the word "pad, pad, pad" ringing in the background. The actors have portrayed their characters well, the dialogues (especially the speech given by Lakshmi at the end of the movie) are entertaining, the movie succeeds in delivering the social message and yet the movie lacked the wow-factor. I suppose I was expecting too much from the Balki-Akshay duo. Also, in an attempt to conform to the Bollywood-scene, the introduction of the love triangle and the superfluous "kissing scene" had us all shake our heads in disappointment. Had the movie not borne a stark similarity to Toilet-Ek Prem Katha, we would have probably enjoyed it a bit more. Period. P.S: the tagline in the title of this post is from one of the posters shown in the film welcoming Lakshmi back into his village.

vikasher2007 Thanks to Akshay kumar for saying yes for a movie on this subject. It got all the attention because of Akshay kumar.

Jithin K Mohan With such important subjects each time Akshay Kumar is trying to be a socially committed actor but most of them always stay short of being really effective. Here also the subject is important in the bigoted Indian society but the execution is just ok. The film lacks proper focus and the issue is still not addressed properly keeping it taboo and only reachable to an extent. The narrative is not at all consistent and the first half drags so much without making any point. But the subject and its reality are so powerful that when the film works it hits them hard. How the society reacts at each point just makes me ashamed of my country and even though I haven't directly seen such situations or people I can't deny the probability of such occurrences. Even though the subject is kind of approached superficially the importance and social effect of the film that can be felt through some of the moments in the film make it worth it.

haklaster PADMAN, the movie full of motivation, is about India's one of the real Superhero. Necessity is the mother of innovation is said somewhere, here it is implemented. Padman is a movie which has romance, comedy, serious as well as heart touching moments distributed equally. This is a brave topic to come up with so hats off to Twinkle Khanna, R Balki and the entire team. Special hats off to Mr. Arunachalam Murugnatham for his extraordinary contribution to the society.The film has many moments which make us laugh naturally and its not forced humor. Chemistry between Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte is also good. The problem of unhygienic sanitation habit is shown in a bold way and its seriousness can be felt while watching the film. The film has some emotional moments when Padman fails as well as when Padman comes to know that his first Pad which was tested was successful. Best part of the movie includes the scene before interval which reminds of Toilet Ek Prem Katha scene. Mr. Arunachalam is given perfect tribute also in the starting credits as well as in the end which is a good part. The machine making is shown which is a very good part. BGM is very nice. Music of the film is fairly well and justified. Flaws in the film, I found 2 flaws. This film is spanned over some 8-10 years they could have shown some age difference in the looks of the characters it felt as if everything is happening in the span of 1-2 years only. 2nd flaw is the romantic angle in the later part of the film could have been avoided nevertheless it was also justified but it was looking like extra part in the film.Talking about the performances, Akshay Kumar as Lakshmikant Chauhan is fantabulous, one of the best performance of his career. Its another feather to his collection and it should not be a surprise if this act is considered for a national award. He has nailed it in every scene may it be demonstration of his machine or monologue in the end or testing pad on himself or making of the machine. Radhika Apte, has given amazing performance, she is having some amazing emotional scenes and she has performed beautifully. She perfectly suits in a village woman role with a narrow minded thinking. Sonam Kapoor as Pari has her moments in the film. She is the hero along with Lakshmikant. She has some amazing dialogues in her account. Other performances of Lakshmi's mother and sisters as well as 2 friends and Pari's father are also remarkable. And then there is the one and only Amitabh Bachchan, R Balki's favourite in the special appearance. Its just 2-3 minutes role but he stole the show in his own style. Amazing dialogues by him in just those 2-3 minutes. There are some clap worthy and whistle-able scenes too. R Balki's direction is classic. This is his personal best along with Paa. The camerawork is awesome. Locations in the film are not much important according to film but still Maheshwar is beautiful and it captures true village environment. Editing could have been a bit better but its good there is no unnecessary nuisance in the film.Overall the film is enjoyable, entertaining yet giving a very strong message and motivation. There is no logical error in the film as a normal audience and there is no scene which makes family audience feel awkward. There is no boring moment in the film which makes us feel that when is it ending. Its a motivating film after Dangal. Please don't miss it as we don't have many good movies coming every year.