R Balki: Have taken cinematic liberties in Pad Man, wrote it keeping Akshay in mind

Mainstream Hindi cinema is known for taking cinematic liberties while making biopics and adaptations, but not many filmmakers readily accept the fact. However, the director of Pad Man, R Balki, he has no qualms in publicly confessing that he has resorted to a few liberties while portraying the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham in the film. He also added that Muruganantham is very much aware of the changes. 

Talking to PIT, a news agency, he said that he wanted Muruganantham’s life to look more impressive on the big screen. “I have to do justice to his (Muruganantham’s) life. On screen, his life should be even better than what it was in real life. I have taken very few liberties and Muruganantham knows about it,” he explained.

The filmamker added that they wrote the film keeping Akshay Kumar in mind. “We wrote it for Akshay. He is a star but you have to write things keeping in mind the character as well. We had to make sure the sensitive issue is not lost,” he added. 

Balki has never wanted to make a biopic, Pad Man is an exception. “I never wanted to do a biopic. I wanted to do my own fictional stories but this subject was great. This guy's life is fascinating. Where will you get to do a mass mainstream film on a subject like sanitary pads? I felt it was a fantastic opportunity, that's why I took it up,” he said. 

Pad Man is all set to be released on 26 January. The film will be clash with Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaary at the box office.