PadMan was supposed to easily breeze at the box office. There was to be no doubt about that. After all, Akshay Kumar is box office gold and the movie was riding on a lot of hype thanks to its subject and its crowd-pleasing promotional tactics. The music was good, the promos were nice and above all, it discussed a subject boldly which endeared PadMan to many. And yet, PadMan is not working at the box office as much as we had expected it to be.

As per the latest trade figures, the movie has collected around Rs 45 crore at the box office. This isn't bad per se, but it way below our expectation for an Akshay Kumar movie. Thankfully the R Balki movie is made on a low budget, though the marketing cost must added some zeroes to the overall cost. With Aiyaary and Black Panther coming up this Friday, it would be an uphill task for PadMan to reach the Rs 100 crore club.

Looking at all the factors surrounding the movie's release, here are what we feel as five issues that may have led to PadMan's underperformance.

The audience is not comfortable with the theme

While we laud the intentions of the makers in making a conversation-starter like PadMan, it is also true that open discussion of menstruation is still sadly considered as a taboo among some sections of the audiences. There are still people among us who are not comfortable with the idea that a movie has the audacity to discuss monthly periods and what a woman has to go through as a result. Hope there is a change in this attitude soon, as we cannot expect things to improve without facing them first.

The Padmaavat effect

Padmaavat is having a great run at the box office earning nearly Rs 250 crore just in India, even with its fractured release. The blockbuster success of Padmaavat comes straight after the mega-successful run of Tiger Zinda Hai.  As the audiences are still clamouring to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus, has this affected the collections of PadMan? And while we are at this point...

The reshuffling of release dates

PadMan was earlier scheduled to release on January 25, thereby enjoying the Republic Day weekend. Though it was clashing with Sidharth Malhotra's Aiyaary then, PadMan still had the added advantage of Akshay Kumar's superior box office power and his love for national holidays. But then Padmaavat came into picture and changed things forever. Akshay Kumar smartly moved his release date two weeks ahead to 'graciously' give Padmaavat an open field. But this reshuffling didn't help its cause much, despite enjoying a solo release. Maybe Akshay Kumar fans associate his movies too much with national holidays.

People are tired of Akshay Kumar's social projects

Akshay Kumar has recently been associated with socially conscious movies and having the image of a 'nationalistic' hero. It has worked for him at the box office with movies like Baby, Airlift, Rustom, Toilet - Ek Prem Katha all turning hits. But have people grown tired of a preach Akshay Kumar, despite his good intentions? Maybe we are reading too much into this.

It is an average movie

PadMan is a movie that has its heart in its right place, delivers a good social message and has some really strong moments. But, ultimately, none of them really make for a wholesome movie watching experience, and that's where PadMan, as a whole, falters. It is neither Akshay's best movie in years nor R Balki's best effort. The first half of the movie is pretty average with some hammy performances from the supporting cast and contrived emotional scenes. The second half fares better, but is let down by an uninspired climax. So all in all, not the masterpiece we expected the movie to be.

Agree with our observations? Share your thoughts below...

PadMan also stars Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte in the lead, and is the maiden production venture of Twinkle Khanna.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 13, 2018 04:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).