**Padman** Shooting Begins DT: Akki,Sonam, Radhika & Big B

Akshay Kumar's new film Padman sounds interesting. This film is reportedly based on the real life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad making machine. Arunachalam is credited for having innovated grass-root mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India. Earlier, Akshay took to Twitter to announce the film. However, the release date has not yet been declared.

And guess, who are going to be Akshay's leading ladies in the film. Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte are going to star opposite the Khiladi Kumar. Sonam confirmed the new by tweeting the same look of the film that Akshay has earlier shared. Sonam captioned the picture as, "Thrilled to be a part of this prestigious project. #rbalki @akshaykumar @missfunnybones @radhikaofficial #padman." Radhika Apte also retweeted the look on her Twitter account.
Akshay's inclination towards real life stories has led him to the discovery of yet another interesting plot that looks to have all the ingredients of making an exciting celluloid drama. The film will be produced by his wife Twinkle Khanna.

Meanwhile, Akshay is busy with his upcoming film Jolly LLB 2. Akshay has donned many avatars but never portrayed a lawyer onscreen until Jolly LLB 2 happened. The makers of the sequel wanted a bigger star onboard and in came Akshay in place of Arshad Warsi who helmed the previous film. The trailer has created a good buzz and the first look indicates the sequel will be a more commercial affair than the first one. Will Akshay be able to pull off the new role with panache is something that remains to be seen. While Saurabh Shukla reprises his role, Annu Kapoor is the new addition as the devil's advocate.

In his three-decade long career, Akshay Kumar has stayed away from biopics. While his movies like Special 26, Airlift and Rustom were based on real life incidents, the characters Akshay played were fictitious or based on the people in the true incidents. However, the actor now has now signed two biopics. While the first biopic will see him playing Balbir Singh, a former member of the Indian hockey team, the second one produced by wife Twinkle Khan's new production house will see him playing Arunachalam Muruganantha, the man who made a huge difference to the lives of rural women in contemporary India

Those who have read Twinkle Khanna's new book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad will vouch that The Sanitary Man from the Sacred Land definitely makes for an inspiring story. The actress-turned-author has fictionalised the story, which is based on a true incident for her book. The inspiration behind the story is Arunachalam, who bore the wrath of his village and community for his commitment to find a way to make cheaper sanitary napkins that could be afforded by women in his village. Rural women until recently would use rags and other unhygienic means and methods. Now, the story will be her first filmi venture. Twinkle stumbled on the story of Muruganantham while doing some research on menstruation for one of her columns. It's only fitting that the story of this extraordinary man makes its way from the pages of Twinkle's book to the large screen.

Though the story in the book is penned by Twinkle, she isn't taking the writing credits where the film is concerned. Says a source, "It's the kind of film that will appeal to Twinkle's sensibilities. It will be directed by R Balki and will star Akshay. The concept is hers, and will be developed by R Balki." When we had earlier asked her whether she will graduate to writing for films after having written columns and authored two books, she had said, "I was writing columns, now I've written two books. I don't know what I will write next. I have another job as well. I have an interior store and a candle factory. And between these three, I have enough on my plate. In fact, my plate is overflowing now."


Arunachalam Muruganantham saw that his wife Shanthi used filthy rags during her menstrual cycle, as sanitary napkins made by multinational corporations were expensive. Troubled by this, he started designing experimental pads. He tried to get his wife and sisters to use them, but they decided to stop co-operating with him after a certain amount of time, Since most women were shy to talk about this matter, he decided to test them himself. He used a bladder with animal blood and would pump it at regular intervals to see if his pads worked. But he was ridiculed and ostracised by his community and family. But he didn't give up. Eventually, he devised a low-cost machine that could be operated with minimal training. Today, despite many offers from multinationals, Muruganantham has not sold out his machine

Arunachalam Muruganantham (Tamil: ) (born 1962[1]) is a social entrepreneur from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad making machine and has innovated grass-roots mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India. His mini-machines, which can manufacture sanitary pads for less than a third of the cost of commercial pads, have been installed in 23 of the 29 states of India. He is currently planning to expand the production of these machines to 106 nations.[2]

In 2014, TIME magazine placed him in its list of 100 Most Influential People in the World.[3] In 2016, he was awarded Padma Shri by Government of




Arunachalam Muruganantham saw that his wife Shanthi used filthy rags during her menstrual cycle, as sanitary napkins made by multinational corporations were expensive. Troubled by this, he started designing experimental pads. He tried to get his wife and sisters to use them, but they decided to stop co-operating with him after a certain amount of time, Since most women were shy to talk about this matter, he decided to test them himself. He used a bladder with animal blood and would pump it at regular intervals to see if his pads worked. But he was ridiculed and ostracised by his community and family. But he didn't give up. Eventually, he devised a low-cost machine that could be operated with minimal training. Today, despite many offers from multinationals, Muruganantham has not sold out his machine

After a year long wait, Sonam Kapoor has finally announced her next project. Putting rest to all the rumours, Sonam will next be seen in director R.Balki's film titled Pad Man.


Pad Man also stars Akshay Kumar in the lead role and is produced under his wife Twinkle Khanna's production house - Mrs. Funnybones Movies.

Sonam announced her new film on Instagram with Pad Man's poster and wrote, "Thrilled to be a part of this prestigious project. #rbalki @akshaykumar @missfunnybones @radhikaofficial #padman"

Later in the day, the actress was also clicked with Balki. And looks like, post this meeting, the two decided to make the announcement.

Currently, Sonam is riding high on the success of Neerja, which makes her a strong contender for this year's Best Actress trophy.

Akshay Kumar's Pad Man will have two ladies by his side. Sonam Kapoor took to Twitter and Instagram to share this good news that she along with Radhika Apte have been roped in to be a part of Pad Man that will be directed by R Balki. Sonam tweeted that she is thrilled to come onboard for the project and tagged Radhika Apte also in her post. We had earlier reported to you how R Balki was bringing Sonam and Akshay together for an upcoming project. While the team of Pad Man kept everything under wraps, it is now revealed that the film will have this trio, who are coming together for the first time.

This is the second time Akshay and Sonam are coming together after Thank You. However, for Radhika, this will be the first time that she'll work with the superstar. Seeing Radhika and Akshay together for the first time is again a fresh pair we'll be witnessing. This is Twinkle Khanna's first film that will be produced under her banner. To discuss the script of the film, Kapoor and Balki even met yesterday. We got pics of the duo as they're chatting up. Akki even shared the first teaser poster of Pad Man. Soon it was revealed that the movie is based on the life of a man named Arunachalam Muruganantham, the first man to introduce affordable sanitary pads for women in his village. (ALSO READ - Akshay Kumar to make sanitary napkins in R Balki's Pad Man)