A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali Khan
By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Have you heard of Arunachalam Muruganantham? Those of you who have heard of him would know that this Coimbatore-based man is a Padma Shri awardee. As for the uninitiated, Muruganantham is a social entrepreneur who revolutionized the way sanitary pads are made by designing a special machine that can make low-cost sanitary pads. Muruganantham has also played an instrumental role in creating awareness about the rudimentary practices that women follow during menstruation in rural India. For his novel achievement, Time magazine included him in the list of 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014.
Now, Akshay Kumar has often been accused of essaying preachy characters
in the recent times with Toilet: Ek Prem Katha being the most cloyed of them all. Watching the rushes of PadMan one
got a feeling that Akshay would outdo the preacher in him this time around. Now,
there is no denying that PadMan is a preachy film. But it doesn't overdo it for
the most part. In fact, with the exception of a few sequences, PadMan does a
decent job at conveying the importance of sanitary pads for women. And despite
being melodramatic it succeeds in telling the all important story of a man who
selflessly dedicated his life to ensure a better quality of living for women. The onus is now on the government to take up the issue of menstrual hygiene with the gravity it deserves. Waiving off the GST would certainly be a step forward. Otherwise, initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan would continue to be mock exercises.
Rating: 7.5/10
Have you heard of Arunachalam Muruganantham? Those of you who have heard of him would know that this Coimbatore-based man is a Padma Shri awardee. As for the uninitiated, Muruganantham is a social entrepreneur who revolutionized the way sanitary pads are made by designing a special machine that can make low-cost sanitary pads. Muruganantham has also played an instrumental role in creating awareness about the rudimentary practices that women follow during menstruation in rural India. For his novel achievement, Time magazine included him in the list of 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014.
Of course, Muruganantham didn’t have it easy. PadMan, directed by
R.Balki, is based on Muruganantham’s struggle and his ultimate triumph. But it
isn’t exactly a biopic. PadMan is not only not set in Tamil Nadu but it also
revolves around a fictional character named Lakshmikant Chauhan (aka Lakshmi)
that tries to be true to Arunachalam Muruganantham in both letter and spirit.
But, at the end of the day, Pad Man is not a documentary but a commercial Bollywood
film and so it offers a highly dramatized account of what can be described as
the story of Muruganantham’s struggles to spread awareness about the use of
sanitary pads.
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| Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte in PadMan |
When it was announced that Priyanka Chopra would play the titular
character in the Omung Kumar-directed Mary Kom, there were many who thought
that casting an actor from the North East in the eponymous role would have been
the right thing. And, as already stated above, PadMan is not a biopic in the
strictest of sense, but the makers could certainly have set an example by
casting a South Indian actor to play the lead. But, Bollywood is clearly more
concerned about the commercial factors than anything else. However, serious
questions do arise that Bollywood sooner or later will have to answer.
PadMan features some very interesting performances. Akshay Kumar
continues with his merry ways, yet again playing a rather unconventional
character with his characteristic poise and ease. Within his range, he shifts
gears quite effortlessly. Yes, there moments when he looks a bit over the top
but they are few and far between. The high point of his performance is a
poignant speech his character delivers at the UN that packs a punch. The film’s
second best performance comes from Sonam Kapoor. She plays a young B-School
graduate who helps Lakshmi in taking his invention to the rural women in India.
The subtle manner in which the movie depicts their relationship is vintage
Balki. Alas, the box-office considerations yet again come to spoil the party
just when the film appears to be taking an interesting turn. As for Radhika
Apte, she seriously needs to think twice before she decides to play a rural
housewife. Here again she does a decent job but these roles are not pushing her
the way some of her earlier roles did.
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| Sonam Kapoor in PadMan |
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| A Still from R. Balki's PadMan |
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
PadMan - Official Trailer (YouTube)
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