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Pad Man 2018
Biographical dramaComedy-drama
Pad Man is a 2018 Hindi-language social comedy-drama film directed and written by R. Balki. This co-production between India and the United States features Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, and Radhika Apte in leading roles, supported by a full ensemble cast. The story is based on the real-life journey of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist and entrepreneur from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, who developed low-cost sanitary pads for women living in rural regions. His story was previously fictionalized by Twinkle Khanna in her work titled The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad.
The concept for adapting Muruganantham’s life began in 2015 when Khanna, who acted as a co-producer on the film, encountered his story while researching content for a column in The Times of India. Motivated by his dedication and perseverance, she wrote about him in her book, The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, published in 2016. In November 2017, Sony Pictures took over as the global distributor for Pad Man. Principal photography started on 14 March. Most of the film was shot in Maheshwar, a small town located along the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh. Once filming wrapped in India, the crew traveled to New York City where key scenes were filmed at Times Square, Lincoln Center, and the United Nations headquarters. Muruganantham worked directly with R. Balki, Kumar, and Khanna during production in India, ensuring that every aspect of his process—from constructing his machine to operating it—was accurately portrayed, including his physical posture.
Originally scheduled for release on 25 January 2018 during Republic Day, the film was instead theatrically launched in India on 9 February 2018. This made it the first Hindi movie to open in Russia on its intended date. Following its release, Pad Man received both critical acclaim and strong box office performance, particularly in India and China, with a worldwide gross of . It earned the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. At the 64th Filmfare Awards, Kumar was nominated for Best Actor, marking the only nomination the film received.
Cast
- Akshay KumarLakshmikant Chauhan aka Pad Man
- Sonam KapoorPari Walia
- Radhika ApteGayatri Chauhan
- Jyoti SubhashSubhadra Chauhan
- Mrinmayee GodboleSonali Chauhan
- Parul ChouhanJyoti Chauhan
- Soumya VyasAabha Chauhan
- Yogesh Shreekant PandeyBabloo Rajput
- A. R. RamaHariya Rajvansh
- Himika BoseSonali Kumari
- Mrudul SatamTinku Varma
- Riva BubberAsha Varma
- Rakesh ChaturvediProfessor Sanjeev Sharma
- Wahib KapadiaManas Sharma
- Rajesh TiwariMoneylender
- Urmila MahantaSavitri Modi
- Suneel SinhaProfessor Tejas Walia
Crew
- Director
- R. Balki
- Writer
- R. Balki, Swanand Kirkire
- Producer
- Twinkle Khanna, Prerna Arora
- Cinematography
- P. C. Sreeram
- Editing
- Chandan Arora
- Music
- Amit Trivedi
Details
- Production
- Cape of Good Films, Columbia Pictures, Hope Productions, KriArj Entertainment, Mrs Funny Bones Movies, SPE Films India
- Distributor
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- Budget
- 85 crore
- Box office
- ₹207.73 crore
