Director: Raghava Lawrence
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Sharad Kelkar, Tusshar Kapoor, Ashwini Kalsekar
Language: Hindi
When I first chanced upon the famous Burjkhalifa song sequence in Laxmii, I was sceptical about the premise. A horror-comedy with dancing sheikhs amidst the towering Burj Khalifa? My scepticism proved right in this case.
Laxmii, previously titled as Laxmii Bomb, is a remake of the Tamil hit Kanchana. Slotted in the horror-comedy genre, this film is the story of Aarif (Akshay Kumar), a rationalist who believes in logic, visiting his wife Rashmi’s (Kiara Advani) estranged family. Their inter-faith marriage does not sit well but soon Aarif charms Rashmi’s family. His mannerisms undergo a sudden change however, and it is revealed that he is possessed by a transgender ghost Laxmii (Sharad Kelkar). The story of Laxmii reveals the struggle of a transgender person and how Laxmii’s life was taken away by money-hungry goons. In a loud and crowded climax, Laxmii the ghost and Aarif together seek revenge and justice prevails.
The trope is familiar and the genre too as well. Horror-comedy flicks require sharp and witty writing and a good cast to carry the story forward. Laxmii has droll dialogues with misplaced songs and a supporting cast who struggle to switch between laughter and fright. When the ghost slaps Rashmi’s brother, her sister-in-law responds by crawling away while singing ‘Maar Daala’ from Devdas. The movie is peppered with such hard-to laugh at ‘jokes’ and the horror scenes are no better. The first few scenes that set the mood for the haunted premise have a few jump scares but that’s about it. With a plot that seeks to break down stereotypes on the transgender community, Laxmii reinforces it all time and again. There are many questions that are still left unanswered and the plot makes no secret of the fact that it has abundant holes. There is a particularly mind-boggling scene where Laxmii live-streams her to-be victims’ sufferings to scare away people. How, you ask? Well, to state the obvious – ghosts are tech whizzes too. If they can make people flail around endlessly, live streaming must be peanuts, I presume.
Kiara Advani who is nothing but a figurehead in the film arrives in modern clothes and showers her husband with love. When she finds out that her husband is possessed by a ghost, she suddenly switches to traditional clothes but that’s about it. That is pretty much the only change that we see in Rashmi’s character after her witnessing a life-changing event. There is not much gumption in her role thereby only adding to the frivolous nature of the film. Akshay Kumar shows off his acting chops quite well when he transforms into Laxmii. Sharad Kelkar is promising as Laxmii and carries off his role well. The final and fiery dance sequence followed by a CG induced fight scene oddly reminded me of yesteryear Tamil devotional films where evil is vanquished in lone temples amid beating drums, after which normalcy is restored. However, after 141 minutes of Laxmii, it is anything but normalcy for us, the audience.
Laxmii can be streamed on Disney + Hotstar
Rating: 1/5
