The PADMAN Review – My Views & Thoughts

I just loved this movie.

SayeriDiary Rating: 4 out of 5

Lead Roles:

Arunachalam Muruganantham – Here Lakshmi Prasad (Akshay Kumar)

Gayatri – Lakshmi’s wife (Radhika Apte)

Social Activist & Tabla Player – Sonam Kapoor (an extended cameo role)

What is the Story?

The film is based on the real-life inspiring story of Arunachalam Muruganantham – a social entrepreneur from Coimbatore. He invented the machine for low-cost sanitary napkins. It is a motivational story for the society. If you really want to do something for your country, if you have that passion then nobody can stop you.

Here we can see the struggle of a man, the social obstacles that he faced, his journey with the societal taboos.

From the beginning we have seen, how Akshay Kumar AKA Lakshmi Prasad loves his wife Gayatri. He always feels for his wife and doing his best to give her the comfort. Lakshmi had the mother and three sisters also. There was a rule in the society for women that during the 5 days of menstruation they have to live separately outside the room. Lakshmi couldn’t accept that thing especially when he saw his wife, using dirty cloth for menstruation.

First, he bought sanitary pad from medicine shop but due to its high price Gayatri didn’t take that. He wanted to give a better life to his wife and that provoked him emotionally to invent the sanitary pad machine. Lakshmi was a good mechanic and he could invent different machines easily. He planned to make a sanitary pad on his own. And rest of the story is about his journey of life towards this amazing invention. He tried again and again, people even his family rebuked him. He left his village and finally conquered the world! 🙂

Go and watch the movie not for you for the sake of the women you love.

How is the movie?

R.Balki has narrated the story flawlessly. There were many small but beautiful sequences that he has captured in a frame. Like, Lakshmi when gifted flower to Gayatri, when he made onion cutter from a simple toy. Even his cycle carrier he has made better for his wife. These all gestures showed his love and care for Gayatri. Akshay Kumar as Lakshmi Prasad is just WOW! What an acting man!! Just think, you are a polished civilized man, you know English well but you have to act like a village man who can’t even speak English properly. Enacting this throughout the film is not easy. You have to break your own personality and adopt the character into you. The better you live a character the stronger actor you are. And Mr. Khilladi hits the sixer this time. 🙂

Radhika Apte is also brilliant. Gayatri has the social taboos but at the same time, she has immense love for her husband too. She has portrayed perfectly the dilemma of a wife.

Sonam Kapoor also fits well with the character. Her casual, simple outfits, bright eyes with smile and hope gel up well with the appearance of a social activist. It is a non-glamorous character and Sonam has done justice with it.

The Magic Moments:

For me, there are three magic moments in the film.

Scene 1: When Lakshmi tried the pad on himself, failed and finally jumped into the river

I couldn’t hold my tears

Scene 2: When Sonam Kapoor giving the first feedback about the sanitary pad. The facial expression of Akshay Kumar was amazing. He was crying and smiling at the same time.

Scene 3: His speech in the USA.

He was living the character throughout the movie.

Final Words:

A movie has the power to influence the society. Actors can motivate people to break social prohibitions. This film has come to us with a social cause, to make people aware of the fact that 82% women in India are not using sanitary pads during menstruation. It shows us that a man should take care of his wife. The hygienic method should be used during menstruation.

This post is written as a part of the #AlexaTheIncredible campaign hosted by #womenbloggerwb