There is much to see, do and shop for if you are stuck in transit at the fascinating Dubai International Airport on the way to some foreign destination. Like New York City in the US, for instance. Which is where Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar and fashionista-actress Sonam Kapoor are headed even as you read this. But Akshay is not fond of Duty Free shopping. So the tastefully decorated wine stores, cigarette and cigar lounges, watch, jewelry and perfume boutiques offer no attraction to him. And Akshay spends his time waiting patiently for his connecting flight in a restaurant over a cup of coffee. That’s what an attentive UAE paparazzo spotted the actor doing early this morning at the Dubai International Airport and sent Peeping Moon.com this unusual picture of the Khiladi sitting alone lost in a meditative cuppa.
Akshay and Sonam are flying to NYC for the last schedule of Padman. The biopic on Tamilian entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganatham who invented low-cost sanitary napkins to generate awareness in rural areas about its usage and hygiene is being directed by R Balki. The film is based on the story The Sanitary Man from the book The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad by Twinkle Khanna. Padmanmarks her debut in film production with her studio Mrs. Funnybones Movies. Akshay plays Arunachalam who was recognized for his work and awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India last year. That much is known about the man and his social awareness campaign that struck a chord in Twinkle Khanna. The film’s shooting was reportedly completed in a record 37 days in Indore and around Delhi. It’s a rural story therefore Bollywood sources are now wondering why Akshay and Sonam are flying to the US.
Peeping Moon.com has exclusive learned that the climax of Padman is now going to be shot at the United Nations’ headquarters in the Turtle Bay neighbourhood of Manhattan. That’s where Akshay and Sonam are headed. The UN HQ is where the General Assembly and Security Council of the 72-year-old intergovernmental organisation tasked with promoting international cooperation between nations are located. Peeping Moon.com sources reveal that the Padman team has received privileged permission to shoot its climax scene inside this sacrosanct world stage in the heart of Manhattan. What the scene involves is not known yet. But this much is clear: the story of Padman is something that hugely appealed to the UN because sanitary awareness and hygiene is a subject high on its agenda. And the permission to shoot inside its HQ was given because of this. Not because the actor playing Arunachalam Muruganatham is Akshay Kumar.
