Twinkle Khanna, who produced Akshay Kumar-starrer Padman, said on Friday that there were many people who questioned her decision to back a movie which supported the cause of menstrual hygiene. Padman is inspired by the life of Tamil Nadu-based Arunachalam Muruganantham, who created affordable sanitary napkins for the women of his village.

The film, directed by R Balki, had Akshay playing the central character. It is based on the short story, The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land from Twinkle's book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad. "When I started making the film, a lot of people said, 'Are you crazy? Who is going to watch a film on menstruation? People don't talk about it.' That was the challenge- to find people who would be ready to finance a film like this.

"As a team, we were determined and we realised the impact (of the film) as the government announced that they are installing sanitary pads vending machine at railway stations and there was an impact on the GST. We did play a small part in bringing that about," Twinkle said at an event. The film, which released in January this year, earned over Rs 100 crore at the box office.
Twinkle, 43, has been roped in as an artiste ambassador by Save the Children, a leading Child Rights NGO in India, to champion the cause of adolescent health and menstrual hygiene.