The first poster of Mission Mangal featured Akshay Kumar along with the five leading ladies - Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen and Kirti Kulhari. Unexpectedly so, the audience felt that Akshay got more prominence in it than the rest of the actresses.
In an interview with a leading daily, when Vidya was asked about it, she said that it makes more sense as Akshay is going to sell the maximum tickets. “Well, we are in the business of cinema. And finally, if Akshay is going to sell the maximum tickets, it only makes better business sense. Slowly, actresses are gaining in strength, and someday, our faces will be equal, if not bigger than the lead actor. I am saying this in jest, and with no feeling of being slighted or anything. Also, I really feel that we are getting touchy about too many things these days. It is great that today there are conversations about so many things that people would not speak about before, but sometimes, I do think that the people who are commenting are not even aware of what they are saying," the actress told the daily.
Previously, Taapsee and Sonakshi, too, agreed that whoever draws in the audience leads the promotions. While Taapsee had said, "Akshay Kumar will get the audience in the theatre and we cannot run away from this reality," Sonakshi had said, '"jo bikta hai, woh dikhta hai."
Mission Mangal, directed by Jagan Shakti, is based on real-life scientists, who contributed to India's first interplanetary expedition, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched by Indian Research Space Organisation (ISRO) in 2013. The film releases on August 15.
(Source: The Times of India)
