Padman : Movie Review

Cast : Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Akshay Kumar

Director : R Balki

Duration : 2 Hour 20 Minutes

Summary : by now everyone in India knows that Padman is the real life story of Tamil social activist

Arunachalam Muruganantham. The role is essayed by Akshay Kumar in the movie and the movie is

all about how the lead actor is taken aback by the pain and ordeal his wife has to go through in those

five days of the month. And thus life changes after that completely both in good and bad ways.

Review : Padman movie showcases the life of Lakshmi Prasad. The original story is set in south but in

the movie the backdrop has shifted to some village in Madhya Pradesh known as Maheshwar. The

movie begins when the newly wed Akshay Kumar is seen blushing yet cozying up with wife Radhika

Apte. And then you see Radhika Apte very shyly and in an extremely akward way plants kiss on her

husband’s lips. What more the newly weds life seems to go normal between the daily struggles of

being from a lower class family. But when Lakshmi comes to know that his wife has to use rag and

even ash on those five days then he decides to takes a stand for his wife. He is extremely displeased

by the fact that his wife has to wear rags and ashes on those five days of the week. He decides to go

for an adventure trip to the nearby medicine shop where he is amazed to find out that sanitary pads

are extremely expensive. And when he brings them home then his wife shouts at him saying that

now she has to cut down her milk expenses to make up for this extra cost. This shows how the

increased cost of sanitary napkins disrupts the life of a middle class household. And it leaves Akshay

Kumar to wonder it’s only some layers of cotton then why is it that expensive to which even the

medical shop keeper also has no answer.

And next he begins his journey of producing low cost sanitary napkins at cost effective rates. This

earns him lots of disgrace, dissatisfaction and even banishment from his village. Adding to this, his

wife and mother also leaves him alone. But still his bravery and commitment for the cause does not

leave him. And finally he comes through his dream.

But at many parts of the movie the storyline and script falters a lot. The movie has got dialogues

both good and bad. When a man is referred to Narmada ka Kachua (Turtle of Narmada), Dheele

Naade ka Aadmi (a man interested in women) and a shopkeeper tells Akshay that Kishton mein

gadda bana rahe ho kya???

But then again you have dialogues like “Ek aurat ki hifaazat mein naakaamyab insaan apne ko mard

kaise kah sakta hai?  (A person who is unable to protect a woman can’t call himself a man)" goes a

line here. Funnily another “period” film that came last year—Phullu—had a similar dripping with

male nobility dialogue: “Jo auraton ka dard nahin samjhta, Bhagwan use mard nahin samjhta (One

who disregards the pain of a woman isn’t considered a man by God).”

And then comes Sonam Kapoor who lights up the screen. Sonam Kapoor is a table player whose

tabla skills are not seen in the entire movie.

 

Overall, the movie seems to be a good watch with social message but at some points it loses track

and feels a bit stretched out. No doubt Kudos to Akshay Kumar for all his dedication towards this

movie.