Akshay Kumar’s latest film Toilet- Ek Prem Katha which was inspired by PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Swacch Bharat Abhyaan Campaign’ will be telecasted on Doordarshan on September 17, 2017. This date also marks the Prime Minister’s birthday. The film starring Akshay and Bhumi Pednekar released in August and proved a huge hit at the box office by collecting ₹133.65 crore.
While TEKP satellite rights were sold to Zee Cinema Studio initially, due to its theme, the film will first broadcast on Doordarshan. A source close to the development said, “The makers wanted the film to reach maximum people in the interior part of India and the only way to do so was to air the show on DD.”
He further added, “Akshay wanted to gift something to Narendra Modi on his special day and by telecasting this film based on PM's cleanliness drive, it seemed a perfect gift.”
In fact, PM Modi was all praise for the film's trailer when it came out. "Good effort to further the message of cleanliness," he had written on Twitter. Later, UP CM Yogi Adityanath announced Akshay as the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat campaign.
Toilet Ek Prem Katha is unique in more ways than one way. Sanitation as a subject was not explored in Bollywood earlier. The impact and influence of the film were as such, that the district administration of Ghaziabad also screened the film across all villages to spread the awareness against open defecation. It had also been declared tax free in Uttar Pradesh a week ahead of its release.
Akki's film initiated open forum discussions and many people stepped out and addressed the otherwise 'undercover' issue on larger platforms.
TEPK, a love story with a satirical flavour, was directed by Shree Narayan Singh, and produced by Aruna Bhatia, Plan C Studios, and Abundantia, and presented by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and KriArj Entertainment.
