Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; February 6, 2018)

The timing couldn’t have been better for R Balki’s Pad Man, which stars Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte. The film went on floors around the same time last year, when the issue of menstrual hygiene grabbed headlines for various reasons. Discussions around taxation on sanitary napkins and treating them as luxury products, and initiatives like installing pad-vending machines at schools and other institutions have gathered momentum over the past year.

Point this out and R Balki says, “In recent times, people have uttered the word ‘pad’ more often than they ever did. It is simple human psychology that people find it more comfortable to participate in a conversation than flagging it off. Today, many women are willing to share their experiences about menstruation and the need for hygiene more openly, without feeling conscious about men listening in. While this is the beginning, I feel that the real effect of my film will be visible after it releases because Pad Man is not about the box office; it’s about fanning or magnifying the conversation around a woman’s basic right to menstrual hygiene.”

The filmmaker believes that previously, the subject was discussed only behind the closed doors of a house and between the women of the family. "Today, it seems to have assumed a larger proportion. College students and working women don’t shy away from demanding better hygiene conditions and creating awareness about the necessity of sanitary pads"