R Balki talks about Sunny Deol and Dulquer Salmaan starrer 'Chup’!

Sunny Deol and Dulquer Salmaan will be playing lead characters in R Balki’s thriller “Chup”. A teaser of Chup was divulged lately. Balki reveals, "Chup is a thriller and there are a lot of Guru Dutt references in the film. It's not based on Guru Dutt, but you will hear of him and his films. Basically, it's about the artist in him."

Balki clarifies that all the actors have been cast for a particular reason. "I like to cast people not so much unexpectedly, but based on who I feel is closest to my character," tells Balki, informing further that there is nothing unusual about the casting. "This is a commercial film, a commercial thriller, but in a world never done before. The thought is very relevant today and the narrative isn't different from what we usually see. It's a new space for Sunny sir, but there is nothing unusual."

About the Sunny Deol’s reaction on the film story, Balki reveals, "He liked the story very much and just said, 'I would like to do it.' Sunny is actually a director himself, so he understood my vision even better. That aside, he is a very production friendly person. He was a darling to me on the set."

Akshay Kumar’s deep conviction to enact Muruganantham’s life as per R Balki!

Top filmmaker R Balki is a remarkable storyteller who has directed films specifically Cheeni Kum, Paa and Shamitabh. Now, he is gearing up for his next directorial that is PadMan starring Akshay Kumar in the titular role.

Balki is all admirations for Akshay and spoke about him to a tabloid stating, "Akshay is a huge star, but more than that, he is a fantastic actor. We always keep thinking of him as a great star, but he is one of the most incredible actors because he lives the role. He showed deep conviction while bringing to screen Muruganantham’s life."

Film PadMan is based on Arunachalam Muruganantham, the inventor of low-cost sanitary napkins for women in rural areas. And Balki further added that the movie is an adaptation and not a docu-drama.

The director further added, "Of course there’s a bit of fiction in it, but for cinematic purposes, we all take liberties. But what matters is, cinematically how we deliver Muruganantham’s life and do justice to it, I don’t think anybody could have done it better than Akshay Kumar."

Padman is produced by Twinkle Khanna's Mrs. Funnybones Productions and also stars Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor. The movie is scheduled to release on January 26, 2018.

A. Muruganantham’s admiration for Akshay Kumar to talk about sanitary napkins!

When actress cum writer Twinkle Khanna pronounced her maiden venture as a producer, it astonished many as she has picked up an unusual story for her project - the one revolving around Arunachalam Muruganantham. 

Muruganantham came into the limelight in the year 1998 when he invented low-cost sanitary napkin machines to help the poorer women. Since then, his mini-machines have been installed in 23 states across the nation. He has been awarded Padma Shri by the India Govt and also features on the TIME magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People in the World. (2014).

Twinkle pronounced the movie titled Pad Man, which will be directed by R. Balki and her husband Akshay Kumar will play the lead role of Muruganantham. But, her journey to procure the rights wasn't an easy one. In a communication with a famous tabloid, A.Muruganantham spilled the beans on how he was persuaded into allowing Akshay-Twinkle to tell his story onscreen. 

"This is not one of those movies that happened in a day or week. It has taken 1.5 years for us to give it a shape. A girl called Twinkle (Khanna) had been chasing me endlessly for rights. She tracked my every move. She desperately tried to reach me when I was in Malaysia and New York. She finally caught me in London. My friends were curious why would Twinkle want to meet me. It was only then I learnt she is Rajesh Khanna's daughter. I remember telling her, 'Akshay Kumar has also been trying to get me for the rights.' She'd laughed and said, 'Yes, he is my husband.'"

Twinkle came to Muruganantham's house and attended a workshop in Coimbatore with director R Balki. Akshay came much later to his place. "He is extremely humble and down to earth. The day I met him I was going for a lecture to a woman's college. He was hell-bent on coming with me because he wanted to see me give a speech. Twinkle had to stop him because the project was in the early stages then and they didn't want the media to get a whiff of it, " he shared.

Peculiarly, but Muruganantham wanted a Hollywood movie to be made on his life. "I rarely watch Hindi films, but after meeting Akshay I watched Airlift and Baby. I didn't want to give the rights to anyone in India. But, I didn't have the heart to turn down Akshay and Twinkle. They were so passionate about the story that I had to give it to them," he told. 

"I am proud that for the first time in the history of world cinema a mainstream male superstar will talk about menstruation sanitary napkins in a full feature length Hindi film," shared Muruganantham, before signing off. 

Pad Man is scheduled for a 2017 release. 

Hrithik and Twinkle’s friendship with funny banters!

Lately, actress cum author Twinkle Khanna pronounced that she will be donning the producer's hat with her husband's next movie titled Pad Man. The project will be directed by R. Balki and highlights the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham, who is notably known as the India’s ‘Menstruation Man.’ Akshay Kumar will be essaying the lead role.

Twinkle's neighbour and actor Hrithik Roshan took to Twitter and wished her on her new endeavor. He posted, "@mrsfunnybones @akshaykumar congrats dear neighbour. looking forward to this! (Write a 2 hero film next)"

To this, the ever-so-witty Twinkle replied, "Haha! Thank you - I wish I was that #Kaabil my friend :)"

This comes across as quite candid, considering last year Akshay's Rustom and Hrithik's Mohenjo Daro locked horns at the box office, where the latter's movie tanked. Back then, the two actors were constantly pitted against each other. But Akshay's wife Twinkle and Hrithik maintained their friendship. 

Hrithik will be next seen in Sanjay Gupta's Kaabil which is scheduled for a January 25, 2017 release. 

Akshay Kumar joins hands with Big B after gap of 10 years!

Well-known filmmaker R Balki is ready to team up with Amitabh Bachchan again in his next directorial. The twosome has collaborated in most of Balki's movies like Cheeni Kum, Paa, Shamitabh and also a cameo in Ki & Ka.

As per a famous tabloid, Akshay Kumar is likely to join the team for the first time. The director met Akshay for a narration and he was happy to hear that he was the first choice. 

As per news, the movie is set to go on floors in the year 2017. This will be a reunion for Big B and Akshay after ten years on the big screen.