When R. Balki announced the film PadMan everyone seemed pretty excited. Moreover, actor Akshay Kumar playing the lead role and addressing a social issue, the had the curiosity factor. However, it hasn't turned too well on the box-office collections. The film in its second week is struggling to reach in the Rs. 100 Crore Club. With two new films, Aiyaary and Hollywood superhero flick, Black Panther releasing, the pace of the film has only slowed down. The film has made a business of Rs. 64.97 crores by its second week.

The film was showing high and lows in its business from the release day itself. On its first day it took a slow start with Rs. 10.26 crores. This was unexpected since the makers had specifically shifted the release date with another big banner film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. The historical epic is making records with its collection. Meanwhile, PadMan is faltering to reach the box-office prestige-holding the Rs. 100 Crore club. The film did see an improvement in the next few days but is once again going low.

The film has now been made tax-free in the state of Rajasthan to make more and more women aware of the issue of sanitation. The movie is based on the real-life story of Tamil Nadu-based social activist Arunachalam Muruganantham, who invented the low-cost sanitary napkins machine and addressed the tabooed issue of menstrual hygiene in rural India. Akshay Kumar has gone ahead and now even installed a sanitary napkin vending machine in Mumbai. He has been proving to bring about this change apart from the movie.

The film stars Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor and is a maiden venture of Twinkle Khanna's Mrs Funnybones Productions. Well given that the film is made nicely and has such a relevant subject, the box-office collections are definitely underwhelming. Do you think PadMan will eventually reach the Rs. 100 crore club?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 17, 2018 08:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).