GURGAON

Twinkle Khanna, best known as an actor and a writer, has turned producer with Padman. Twinkle says it was important to make a film on menstruation in India as that is the only way to kick-start a conversation on the taboo topic. The film is based on her story, which she believes everyone needs to know. Excerpts from an interview...

Out of all the stories you wrote, why did you decide to adapt The Sanitary Man into a film?

We don’t have control over what our mind wants to do, or where it goes sometimes. I wrote 10 chapters of a novel right r after Mrs. Funnybones. But B while I was researching for my column, I stumbled upon the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham. It gripped me and I abandoned my novel nd began writing The Sa anitary Man. His journey is an n important story, and after a while w I began feeling that the only way it would truly reach households in both urban and rural India , was by making a movie on the subject.

Was Akshay always your first choice as the lead actor? How was it being a producer of a film starring Akshay Kumar?

Initially I thought of making a small movie, but then Akshay and Balki were both enthusiastic about the concept, and things fell into place rather organically. Padman is my first production so I can’t really comment on what it’s like to be the producer of an Akshay Kumar-starrer except to say that on this movie, the things I normally nag him about, like working too much, turned out to be an asset .

From actor, to writer and now a Bollywood producer, it’s been quite a transition and quite a journey... Are you already considering other scripts to produce?

I don’t regret any part of this journey. Not even the brief stint as an actress where my meagre brain cells were probably rather busy trying to commit hara-kiri in despair, because experiences add to your abilities, even if it is just your ability to laugh at yourself. I am looking at interesting stories for my next project, but first I have to make sure that my superhero Padman takes to the skies.