The first trailer for Abhishek Saxena's Phullu is out. With Sharib Hashmi and Jyotii Sethi in the lead, the trailer peeks into the heart of the sensitive film about women's health and sanitation.
The similarity of Saxena's film and another big budget production, Akshay Kumar-starrer Padman, is too hard to miss. While Akshay's film is based on the real life incidents of Arunachalam Muruganathan, the social activist who helped promote the use of sanitary napkins in his village, Phullu lays no such claims.
The trailer begins with Phullu (Sharib Hashmi), a goofy, dogooder in the village who often helps women by buying sanitary napkins for them from the city. However, this activity earns him the ire of his mother, other villagers, and even his own wife. As he discovers the true nature of this 'mysterious thing', he finds the difficulties of being a woman, and the shame they are often subject to for no fault of theirs. This begins his journey from a village idiot to the social revolutionary.
The trailer is emotional and effective in its subtle humour, without being simplistic. Hashmi looks quite compelling, and might give Akshay some serious competition for his role.
Phullu is directed by Saxena, and produced by Pusha Chaudhary, Dr Anmol Kapoor, Kshitij Chaudhary and Raman Kapoor in association with AmbiAbhi Production.
The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on 16 June.
Watch trailer: