Padman Review

Padman….

This movie is difficult to review objectively as a film Vs a social message.

As a social message, this is a very important film in Bollywood because it fearlessly talks about issues that are taboo even in urban India.

The original events this film is based upon happened in the south of India, but this film is set in Madhya Pradesh to be more accessible to the Hindi going audience. Which is fine, nothing much is lost in that translation from south to the middle of India, taboo is taboo.

Direction :

R Balki has done a fantastic job of bringing out this social drama and it is not as preachy or annoying as Toilet ek Prem Katha and somehow shows the lead’s values in a much more subtle way. It also shows how the people in the film as well as the audience of this film might react to the subject of menstruation.

Acting :

Akshay Kumar has somehow transformed himself from the Khiladi to making DAMN good cinema, be it, BABY, Oh My God, or this one, he is truly going the extra mile to be a sensaible actor in an nonsensical industry.

His acting is as expected really really good, he deserves some awards and the audiences full attention to his character’s plight.

Sonam Kapoor is not annoying at all in this film and she shows restraint in her performance making it for a subtle yet realistic depiction of a woman entrepreneur. I don’t know if her character is based on anyone real, but she does a fantastic performance.

The rest of the cast in smaller roles does well too, they are convincing as real life characters and don’t come across as caricatures.

Overall :

This is a well made film, but I am sure this movie will make boys and men squirm in their seats if this is a topic they are not too comfortable about, and that is a good thing. Its high time such social taboos are discarded and logic prevails.

Rating : 8.5 / 10. The film is good, it lacks a bit at times of dramatic tension and problems are sometimes solved too easily. But as a social message film this movie gets 10/10 from me.