‘Laxmii’ Review: A Big, Loud, Tired Yawn
When I saw the trailer for Laxmii, I felt it looked familiar. Where have we seen this before now?
Akshay Kumar and a useless, pretty, semi-naked actress who is half his age. Songs with tasteless lyrics and dumb dance sequences in foreign locations. A family consisting of character actors who always do Mummy and Papa roles, made to look quirky but is actually cringeworthy. The movie also happens to be a Bollywood remake of an older South Indian movie.
Come on Khiladi-san. How many times will you use the same formula? And the film does not get a pass for its comedy-horror genre theme, we all remember the remake of Chandramukhi, released as Bhool Bhulaiyya, starring….Akshay Kumar.
Bhool Bhulaiyya was a fun movie, by 2007 standards. Laxmii, on the other hand, umm not so fun, even by 2007 standards. You may keep on reading or jump to the review.
Background and explosive reactions :
The film was originally called Laxmmi Bomb, which I think was a reference to the Diwali bombs marked with the traditional ‘laxmi’ stamp trademark. But turns out, devotees of Maa Laxmi didn’t like it as the word ‘bomb’ can be seen as a slang. The producers then changed the title and the spelling to “Laxmii”. The film is mentioned all over the internet as Laxmi, Laxmii, Laxmmi and all other iterations of the spelling. Sorry marketing team, that keyword set is going to take a while now.
Well, whatever the title, the film is so terribly bad, only Maa Laxmi’s blessings will help recover its costs.
There were more controversies : the portrayal of love-jihad for example. I don’t care about mainstream cinema trying to get communal or woke because I don’t see it as beyond entertainment. The religious bit in the movie is a lame attempt to score brownie points for secularism, or something like that, and its not worthy of being paid attention to.
The plot :
Laxmii is a remake of Kanchana, a Tamil movie from 2011. The title character in both stories is a eunuch, who exists in the movie as a ghost that inhabits the protagonist’s body.
The following is a spoiler free review of Laxmii.
Akshay Kumar plays a man named Asif, who hates superstition, only to get possessed by the ghost of a eunuch called Laxmii. Akshay Kumar’s overacting is exhausting to watch. Dude, come on, pop those eyes back in your sockets, will ya?
The annoying music and camera effects make it worse. It isn’t even unintentionally funny overacting (like Hritik Roshan in Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon). It is plain….tedious to watch.
The movie tries to have Kapil-Sharmaesque comedy moments by having Laxmii enter Asif’s body and then harass his wife (Kiara Advani) and in-laws for fun. Oh btw, quick note, Kiara Advani exists like a pretty object and shows skin. Done.
Posessed, Asif adopts Laxmii’s mannerisms which are the stereotypical traits of a hijra, mainly effiminate gestures, sarees, makeup and an overdone accent. I wish Akshay Kumar re-watched Bhool Bhulaiyya and took tips from Vidya Balan. She did a decent job portraying a ‘posessed woman’.
Later, we find out that Laxmii has decided to stay in Asif’s body because of unfinished business. Just like Manjulika in Bhool Bhulaiyya, Anushka Sharma’s ghost in Phillauri, or any random ghost in any episode of Aahat.
Laxmii in her flashback is played by Sharad Kelkar, who is the only good thing about this movie, emoting her plight and portraying her struggle effectively. She had faced discrimination and cruelty, and had died as a result. Now, she wants justice and revenge. And Asif, just like any Akshay Kumar hero character, is in for it.
Does the trans-angle translate well?
I like the portrayal of a hijra in this movie. Now, I get it, their mannerisms have been used for comic-relief forever in Bollywood, but this was a chance to do something more and they took it. They gave Laxmii more dimensions, for she was an amazing person, a whole person. Her identity was not limited to her gender-identity – it was more than that. Trans-rights activists have acknowledged the positive things about the movie. I still feel that the hijra mannerisms were too on-the-nose, but I will let it pass. Bollywood has a long way to go, but a step at a time.
In conclusion :
Laxmii is just underwhelming, I did not like it, I did not like the experience as a viewer. It is low on entertainment value and is full of cringe. It does not even fit in the so-bad-its-good category. So, watch if you have time to kill. For me, Laxmii bombed.
Rating :
