National Awards 2019: Padman wins Best Film on Social Issue; Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna react

Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte’s 2018 social drama Padman bagged the Best Film for social issues Award at the 66th National Awards , announced on 9 August. The film is based on the short story The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land from Twinkle Khanna’s book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, which in turn was inspired by the life of Tamil Nadu social activist Arunachalam Muruganantham, who introduced low-cost sanitary pads. Akshay, Sonam, director R Balki, and producer Twinkle have shared their thoughts on winning the award. [caption id=“attachment_4345673” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Akshay Kumar in a still from Padman/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Sharing his excitement on receiving the news of the win, Akshay says in a statement, “I was in the midst of _Mission Mangal_ promotions when Tina (wife Twinkle Khanna) called me asking if it was true? If Padman had actually won a National Award for Best Film On Social Issues? All my tiredness of promotions vanished hearing this news. I remember it was on the sets of Padman only that Sonam and I got the news of winning our respective National Awards last year. So life has come a full circle and I couldn’t be happier for Tina for winning this with her debut production and of course, R Balki, for putting it all together, and the entire team behind Pad Man. Describing it as a “rewarding day,” He adds that Swanand Kirkire also won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for Chumbhak, the Marathi film he presented. Union minister Maneka Gandhi too congratulated the Padman team, and said that she had the low-cost pad machines installed in her constituency, Sultanpur.

Very happy that Padman has won a National Award. I, in WCD, had also promoted it, as it is an excellent film. I now have Padman’s machines in Sultanpur, giving work to hundreds of women and making their health better.

— Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) August 10, 2019

Twinkle Khanna thanked Gandhi on Twitter

Thank you Maneka ji for all your support 🙏 #Padman https://t.co/KSjfOZITGH

— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) August 10, 2019

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Writer-director R Balki says in a statement, “Truly happy that the first feature film on menstrual hygiene has been so effective. The award truly belongs to (Arunachalam) Muruganantham.” According to Sonam, the National Award win is the “only gratification one can ask for.” The actress, who essayed a pivotal role in the film, said it is “truly humbling” for the film to have been accepted by the audiences on Instagram. Check out her statement here

Twinkle took to Twitter to express her gratitude towards R Balki. Here’s her tweet

Congratulations to my friend, our brilliant director #RBalki and @murugaofficial thank you for being you and for your support every step of the way #Padman #NationalAward pic.twitter.com/X7uwDEVrvs

— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) August 9, 2019

Akhsay retweeted another tweet of Twinkle’s, where he said that he was called Twinkle by to confirm the news of _Padman’_s win.

Yes and the next call was to me, half anxious...half excited to confirm if we’d actually won the #NationalAward for Best Film On Social Issues for #PadMan. All I can say, ‘Saari duniya se kaho, Copy That!’ 😁 https://t.co/kti4I7DvxO

— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) August 9, 2019

A number of celebs, from Karan Johar, Bhumi Pednekar to Huma Qureshi and Rakul Preet Singh, took to Twitter to toast to Padman’s win. Akshay thanked them in his tweets. Check them out

Thank you Karan ❤️ https://t.co/CV4sdDVNWC

— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) August 9, 2019

Thank you :) https://t.co/7avE5UTfar

— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) August 10, 2019

Thank you 🙏🏻 https://t.co/qPetCiWTPN

— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) August 10, 2019

Thank you so much :) https://t.co/xEzPmRBt99

— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) August 10, 2019

Thank you Huma :) https://t.co/EesAaKx9dS

— Jolly Mishra - Asli Jolly from Kanpur (@akshaykumar) August 10, 2019