Padman box-office collection: Akshay Kumar starrer grosses Rs 59 cr in domestic earnings

Akshay Kumar’s  Padman  is currently dominating theater screens after registering an impressive opening. The Twinkle Khanna-backed film, which is based on the story of sanitary napkin crusader Arunachalam Muruganantham, tackles the stigma around menstruation in India. [caption id=“attachment_4345673” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Akshay Kumar in a still from Padman/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Starring Kumar, Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor in leading roles, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the R Balki directorial has raked in a total of Rs 59.09 crore at the domestic box office. The social media campaign, #PadManChallenge , spearheaded by the lead actors and Khanna, has immensely contributed to the film’s commercial success.

Critically, Padman has mostly received positive reviews for being an  important yet entertaining film . It took a subject that most Indians are reluctant to talk about — menstruation — and put it on the marquee. Padman released on 9 February and is based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a school drop-out who invented a machine to manufacture sanitary pads at a fraction of the cost of branded ones. This allowed thousands of women in rural India, where menstrual hygiene is abysmally low, access to a safe and healthy option. Padman however, is set in Madhya Pradesh to appeal to a Hindi-speaking audience.