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Saturday, December 21, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD PAD MAN
EDITOR'S PICK
'Padman': Akshay shines in this public service film (Review By Troy Ribeiro, Rating: ***1/2)
The concept for this film, Padman, is credited to Twinkle Khanna for the
story that is based on the short tale in her book, "The Legend of Lakshmi
Prasad". This story has been inspired by the life of Arunchalam Muruganantham a
social activist from Tamil Nadu who revolutionized the concept of personal
hygiene during the menstrual cycle in rural India by creating low-cost sanitary
pads.
Incidentally, the film also shares the same premise as that of Phullu which was
released in June 2017.
Set in rural Madhya Pradesh, Lakshmikant Chouhan (Akshay Kumar) a mechanic by
profession and a loving and devoted husband to Gayatri (Radhika Apte) ensures
that his wife leads a comfortable life by introducing small inventions to
enhance her daily life.
But when he learns about the stigma and taboos that surround menstruation and
the unhygienic methods used by women during this period, he is pained. So he
embarks on a mission to make affordable sanitary pads. How he succeeds in his
endeavour, forms the crux of the tale.
Lakshmikant's story is truly inspirational and writer-Director R. Balki leaves
no stone unturned to magnify it for the large screen. Narrated in a linear
manner and laced with light-humour, stellar performances and statistics-filled
dialogues, this film conveys the strong message with ease and is entertaining
from word go.
But the graph of the story is flat and the plot, laden with deus-ex-machinas and
certain elements truly stretched a la Bollywood style especially Lakshmikant's
invention and his speech at the UN, truly makes the film, "filmi". It loses the
charm of a realistic, biographical film.
Akshay Kumar's portrayal of Lakshmikant Chouhan is sincere. He delivers on every
front and is the soul of the film. You are with him during his struggle and
obsession. He is aptly supported by Radhika Apte as his wife Gayatri. She is
every inch the submissive, rural lady struggling to survive within societal
norms. Their on-screen chemistry is palpable.
Sonam Kapoor as Pari the city-bred, tabla maestro and a freshly minted MBA, is a
misfit and strictly mediocre. She walks through her role and what makes her
further unacceptable is the frivolous demeanour that she is forced to portray.
On the technical front, the film has all the trappings of an A-lister.
Cinematographer P.C. Sreeram's camera work is definitely commendable.
He captures the locales in all its glory.
Amit Trivedi's music is effective and it does elevate the viewing experience.
The songs; "Aaj Se Teri" has interesting lyrics and "Ladki Sayani ho gayi" that
celebrates womanhood is well-choreographed. The other two songs don't register
at all.
Overall, though entertaining, Padman is like a long-drawn public-service film
that's worth your ticket money.
'Pad Man' is a noble masterpiece, period! (Review By Subhash K. Jha ;
Rating: *****)
There was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's stunning "Padmaavat" two weeks ago. There is
the stunning-in-its-own-right "Pad Man" this week.
There is the period film. And then there is the film about the periods.
Excellence comes in many packages. But rarely in a small secret package wrapped
a newspaper. Sometimes, these packages cost Rs 55 and are completely out of
reach for the non-urban women of India.
One man in Tamil Nadu, who is miraculously a convincingly-transformed North
Indian in "Pad Man", decided to do something about making sanitary pads
affordable to poor women.
The thought was not just unmentionable but also outrageous. It still is. The
pain, humiliation, strife and final victory of Laxmikant Chauhan is narrated in
a series of quickly-cut quirky bitterly humorous episodes (editor Chandan Arora
can take a bow) that could easily have become caricatured preachy and
propagandist.
"Pad Man" is none of the above. It celebrates the spirit of enterprise with
enrapturing integrity and tempered gusto, rendering the saga of Laxmikant
Chauhan's journey from familial humiliation and spouse-desertion to a Padma Shri
addressing the United Nations.
One of India's finest cinematographers, P.C. Sreeram, makes Laxmikant's
audacious odyssey a visual manifestation of a life that defies logical
definition.
"Pad Man" has two heroes. Akshay Kumar and P.C. Sreeram.
But before we get there, a word on the cinema of noble intentions that seems to
have run out of steam in these times of perverse dreams. Nobility in these
cynical twisted times when little girls get raped and big boys sell state
secrets for big bucks, is not a quality we value in art.
Given the premium we place on self interest, the sheer generosity of spirit that
R. Balki displays in his fifth feature film -- and by far his finest work --
should be reason to stand up and applaud "Pad Man".
But wait. Hold on to your seats. There is much more to celebrate in this
wonderfully motivated film, a tidalwave of menstrual liberation that sweeps us
into its charming folds like an old grandmother in whose arms we would cuddle
and forget the worries of the world.
"Pad Man" possesses a rare innocence and charm. The proclivity to live a life of
utter selflessness that seeps out of every pore in its protagonist's heart,
comes pouring out of every frame, wrapping us in a feeling of bonhomie that
captures life's most cherishable emotions.
It is very hard, almost impossible, to forget the protagonist, a true hero of
our times, Laxmikant Chauhan. And not only because of the luminous way the
character is written by Balki and his co-writer Swanand Kirkire.
It's the way Akshay Kumar plays Laxmikant, a man driven to insane bouts of
audacity by the passion to diminish the pain that women experience for 5 days
(disparagingly referred to as 'test match' by the boys of the 'mohallah') every
month.
Balki adopts a simple, straightforward linear narrative mode, leaving behind the
swag and swagger of "Cheeni Kum", "Ki & Ka" and the underrated "Shamitabh" to
focus on the man and his mission with a singlemindeness of vision shared in
equal measures by the protagonist and the filmmaker.
There are passages of keen satire rubbing shoulders with fleeting images of deep
contemplation in the supple sturdy and rugged storytelling, all merging in a
marriage of Pure Cinema and Social Statement.
The narrative does tend to overstate its case. And there are sequences such as
the one between Sonam and her screen father in a car at the end, which smack of
over-explanation.
But most of the time, Balki knows where to hold back and where to let go. The
pauses in Laxmikant's saga are rarely filled with irrelevance. Balki and his
leading man won't allow a life so rarefied to be inured in nonsense.
The performances are uniformly appealing. I love Balki's unusual casting tricks
in all his films. Here in "Pad Man", watch out exciting underexposed acting
talent, for instance veteran actress Jyoti Subhash as Akshay Kumar's mother. And
Sunil Sinha(remember him in Gulzar's "Maachis"?) as Sonam Kapoor's Sardarji
father. Sinha has some of the best father-daughter scenes with Sonam and the
film's finest line: "To be a complete father, try playing the mother. To be a
complete man, try feeling a woman's pain."
While Radhika Apte as Akshay's wife is uncharacteristically over-the-top in
conveying a woman's menstrual anxieties (at times she behaves as though the wife
Gayatri has her time of the month for the entire month) Sonam's Pari is a
delight. The actress plays a table player and an incorrigible do-gooder and
Laxmikant's biggest support, all without toppling over into excessive sweetness.
The kiss she shares with her co-star is a little... ummmm... out of place. But
that's okay. No one and nothing is perfect.
The film belongs to Akshay Kumar. Make no mistake about that. Playing Laxmikant
with a mixture of inbuilt ingenuity and curiosity he makes the man Abelievable
and endearing, so compassionate and inspiring.
As Laxmikant Chauhan/Arunachalam Muruganantham, Akshay Kumar's rousing speech at
the UN is the showreel that will be shown when he gets his first lifetime
achievement award. In the meanwhile, do reserve every single acting honour of
2018 for this performance.
Arunachalam Muruganantham is not North Indian. But after watching Akshay Kumar
play him, I wish he was.
Taking a look back at Sonam Kapoor's cinematic journey, father Anil Kapoor says he is proud of his daughter's career decisions and he couldn't be happier.The 'Jhakaas' star took to his Instagram account and shared a collage of Sonam's blockbuster films, including 'Raanjhanaa', 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', 'Khoobsurat', 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo', 'Neerja', 'Pad Man', 'Veere Di Wedding' and the latest being 'Sanju'.Read More
'Race 3' crosses 100-crore mark in opening weekendAfter emerging as the biggest opener of the year, Salman Khan-starrer 'Race 3' has entered the 100-crore club in its opening weekend.The total weekend earnings of the Remo D' Souza-directorial stood at Rs 106.47 crore.Other than 'Race 3', 'Padmavaat' is the only movie released this year to have crossed this mark. In regard to the business done by other movies this year, Film Crirtic, Taran Adarsh tweeted, "TOP 5 - 2018Read More
