PadMan not to clash with Padmaavat, Akshay Kumar’s film postponed to February 9

PadMan tells the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man behind a low-cost machine for manufacturing sanitary napkins in rural India. The film will now release in February.

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has postponed the release date of his much awaited film Padman to avoid a box office clash with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial film Padmaavat, reports PTI. Padman directed by R Balki was supposed to release on January 25, but now it will arrive in theatres on February 9. Padmaavat will also have some late-night shows on January 24.

PadMan is based on a real life story.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta also tweeted that the film’s release date has been postponed to February 9, 2018.

PadMan tells the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man behind a low-cost machine for manufacturing sanitary napkins in rural India.

The film’s unusual storyline and its cast of Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte led to it being billed as a sure-fire winner at the box office. But things changed for it when Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh-starrer Padmaavat was rescheduled to be released on the same day.

Akshay Kumar’s film was making all the right noises before the rescheduling of Padmaavat. In an earlier interview, he sounded very hopeful about the film. He said, “I am already victorious with millions and millions of people talking about Padman on social media, men discussing with other men and asking each other whether they watched the Padman trailer and that it talks about sanitary pads. I am glad they are talking, they should know.”

The film, directed by R Balki, is inspired by a real story of an illiterate man who invented a low-cost machine to manufacture sanitary pads and brought about a wave of social change.

However, it will still clash with Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee’s Aiyaary, which is also releasing on February 9.