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| Edited By: Meena Iyer |Source: DNA |Updated: Feb 02, 2018, 07:00 AM IST
Akshay Kumar is at home, playing with his dog Cleo. When he spots us, he invites us to make ourselves comfortable on the classic sofa (designed by the missus, we are guessing), shows off his perfect egg-shaped bald pate and laughs, saying, “When I shaved my head, I was worried. I was thinking, ‘What if the shape of my head is not good?’” That be as it may, Akki’s lack of self-consciousness, whether it is for his appearance or his performances, is being applauded today. Over to the Pad Man:
I don’t know anything about being an expert. I’ve successfully done Airlift, which was about a businessman who helped evacuate 1,70,000 Indians from Kuwait. The second one was Rustom that was inspired by commander KM Nanavati. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha was based on the story of Anita and Shivram Narre and now, I’m doing Pad Man, which is the true-life account of Arunachalam Muruganantham. These guys are real heroes and their lives have been truly inspiring.
I admire him. Just imagine, he was almost the first Indian man who truly understood what his wife went through, month after month. And he felt that he needed to do something about it. By ‘inventing’ the low-cost sanitary napkin, he has done a service to the future generations of women. Do you know that almost 82 per cent of them do not have access to pads? They actually use cloth, leaves, rakh (ash), and bhusa (hay).
Women in rural India haven’t understood the necessity of a sanitary towel. I understand that many can’t afford to buy them, but I feel bad that they don’t realise how important menstrual hygiene is. They need to be educated about the health hazards of not using such products. It can also lead to cervical cancer. No one has realised the magnitude of the service done by Arunachalam. He took it upon himself to experiment by wearing a pad and ensuring that the product he puts out there is beneficial to his wife and females at large. There is a dialogue in the film that says, ‘Women strong, country strong.’ A woman’s health is of prime importance for us to give birth to a strong country.
Frankly, I didn’t know anything about sanitary napkins till two years ago; I had not even held one in my hand. My sister or my wife didn’t ask me to go to the pharmacy to get one. However, after Tina (Twinkle Khanna)
researched Arunachalam’s life and wrote about him in her book — The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad — she told me about him at length. And I became so interested in his life that when she suggested making a biopic on him, I was fully charged. Pad Man has ventured where no other superhero has. I think Arunachalam’s story is more relevant than that of other superheroes like Batman and Superman because he dealt with a common woman’s problem. And I think I’m doing him service by bringing his story to the big screen.
I’m so happy now that men are discussing sanitary pads. A few days ago, four people outside my vanity van were discussing this subject. This awareness makes me happy and proud.
No, I don’t agree with you. I’m proud of most of my films. But earlier, I didn’t have the power to tell a producer to make the kind of stuff that I do today. Now, I’m the producer, or rather my wife is, so, we have chosen to tell this story together.
Earlier, I only knew commercial — or masala films as some people call them. Today, I’m more in touch with realistic cinema and my belief in it is unshakeable. Also, I’m grateful to the audience because now they are sensitised to this kind of cinema. And they are the ones who actually give us a chance to tell these tales. Back in the ’50s, filmmakers attempted stories like Naya Daur (a tongawalla who fights for his right to livelihood) and Satyakam (a man who marries a rape victim). They got success but not to the degree they should have.
Pad Man holds a more special place in my scheme of things because it carries a specific message. I do these films with good intent because I want these stories to travel far. People should be aware of these real-life heroes, who have researched so much, that too on topics that were earlier considered taboo.
Of course, I’m aware that even today there are homes and places where women, who have their periods, are asked not to enter the kitchen. They are told not to touch the pickles and papad because those may get spoilt. The real reason why women have been asked to take it slow when they have their periods is because their bodies are weak at that point and they need to rest. However, some people gave this a religious connotation, while others had their own scientific gyaan and treated women like outcasts. We have taken a positive angle in Pad Man. In the film, we even have a song where the entire village gets together and celebrates puberty. The locals give the girl gifts and make her feel special, which is how it should be. There is no reason to be hush-hush; it’s actually a thing to celebrate. My co-actor Radhika Apte, too, had a similar experience. When she mentioned this to me, I realised its significance.
You should not make a girl feel that it is something to hide. Instead, you must explain to her the significance and the science behind menstruation.
I’m not entering politics. Doing movies that address public issues doesn’t mean that I’m paving the way for a political career. I’m very happy being an actor. I don’t have an agenda but this kind of cinema gives me joy.
For instance, after watching OMG — Oh My God! people went to temples but they stopped pouring oil and milk on the idols. Instead, they donated money. This level of awareness is all that I’m targeting. I want to make small changes.
Nothing special. I finish everyone’s films on time, I finished hers too.
No. Take someone like Sanjay Dutt. His life is interesting, so it makes sense to make a biopic on him. My life is not too exciting.
