Two niche placed persona of
mainstream cinema come together to tell the real life fictional biography of
Arunachallam Muruganathan. The fictionalised drama has the consent of the
protagonist. No protests. No challenge on dance and song!! Thankfully
Muruganathan’s legendary fans have not opposed the film maker display the
menstrual cycle of his wife. Even more grateful is the Friday trysted film
audience to the stone pelting culture police who permit the display of an
age-old custom. Thankfully Balki has not (yet) been dubbed as: “so called
liberal”
The story line needs no mention. Lakshmikant (Akshay Kumar) wakes up to the use
of dirty cloth instead of sanitary pads. Talking or even referring to it leave
alone getting it out of the closet is taboo. When he decides to take a pro
active role in changing things leads to matrimonial discord, social revolt and
even sibling protest. Wife Gayatri (Radhika Apte) is unable to deal with it.
She is shocked at its price and is not able to come to terms with her spouse’s
obsession with the pads. His futile attempts to sell the idea or an unfinished
alternative product go awry and the entire village is up in arms. Insulted and
isolated he leaves the village only to become a successful entrepreneur who not
only gets Presidential recognition for his innovative technology in producing a
low-cost machine but also gets invited to the United Nations. Interestingly
Balki ducks the trend of making a biopic of a sports person and deals with a
person who has made a name for an invention with social relevance. Here he is
assisted by a MBA graduate Pari (Sonam).
What works for the film is that it completely eschews the pulpit and deals with
it at a human angle. Given the poker faced, one liner charm of its protagonist,
the film heavily relies on the shoulder of Akshay Kumar. The guy is in the kind
of form that you associate with Virat Kohli. Top grade. Non-pretentious and in
complete sync with the pulse of the audience. You wonder why this actor is
consistently overlooked by the critics. Perhaps because he does not style
himself as an intellectual. Take for instance his soliloquy in the form of his
lecture at the UN (and read how different and earthly it is in compare to Aamir
in Akele Hum Akele Tum) and you get to seeing a peoples’ actor who does not
over state and is not afraid to stoop to conquer. The skill lies in knowing how
much to stoop. The script some times bothers on being near documentary but quickly
recovers to deal with the passion and energy of Akshay. Adding glamour and
poise to the film is Sonam who keeps her Neeraja repute intact. Amazing
dialogues keep things afloat. Gems like: the pleasure of being a father lies in
identifying motherhood; identifying US as the country where the lady holds the
flame and reference to a runner up award a Vice Presidential award swing from
the heart touching to the rib tickling. Balki delivers and reiterates that he
has a high sensitivity level in his approach to dealing with narratives.
Ultimately this Pad Man is a Akshay show – straight from the heart,
unpretentious and yet meaningful. Lively yet soul searching. Reformative yet
not preachy.
L. Ravichander.