Proud that men handled 'PadMan': Gauri Shinde

Mumbai: Writer-director Gauri Shinde, wife of "Pad Man" director R. Balki, says she is proud that the movie on menstrual hygiene has been handled by men.

At a screening of the movie here, Gauri said: "The film is fantastic and I loved it. I am very proud of my husband and the whole team. I think it's hats off to the women who are in it, who are appreciating it and who inspired us to make this film."

Like husband Balki, Gauri herself is also an ad film director and made her Bollywood debut with the highly acclaimed film "English Vinglish".

Asked about the inputs she gave to Balki as a filmmaker and as a woman while making a movie on menstrual hygiene, she said: "I love to take credit for whatever he (Balki) does, but that's not the truth this time, unfortunately.

"I am immensely proud that it is men who are sort of handling this -- be it Balki, Akshay Kumar and Vivek (Vivek Krishnani, managing director, Sony Pictures Entertainment India). It's amazing to see that men have come together to do this.

"So, sometimes it's nice to take a backseat and watch men when they do something for women. We should probably not judge them and I think they have it in them to do it so. I think we should let the men come out and do this".

Based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, "Pad Man" is the story of how one man came up with a revolutionary method of producing cost-effective sanitary napkins and empowered thousands of women across the country in the process.

Akshay has stepped into the shoes of Muruganantham in the film, which also features Sonam Kapoor and Radhika Apte.