The CO-VID 19 pandemic has concocted a new normal in every sphere of life. India’s entertainment industry also had to adjust itself to the new norm by postponing most flicks and releasing the rest on the OTT platforms. Well, when we have one Akshay Kumar release in the whole year, we are all certain of the focal changes this pandemic has prefaced. Like me, all movie lovers and critics were excited to watch Laxmii movie for a great Akshay Kumar fun ride. However, the flick adorned to be tiresome, problematic, and the worst OTT experience of 2020. Let us have a detailed Laxmii movie review-
Cast- Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Manu Rishi Chadha, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Sharad Kelkar, Tarun Arora
Director- Raghava Lawrence
Rating- Half a Star
Director Raghava Lawrence tried to recreate his south movie Muni 2: Kanchana, after nine years, which, too, was known for its loud and over the top presentation.
However, the remake Laxmii was an exhibition of the callous acting, crass storyline, and the age-old Hinduphobic Bollywood Script.
Numb Acting
When there is an ensemble star-cast of Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Rajesh Sharma, and others in a movie, there’s an expectation of powerhouse acting. However, sadly, it seemed the cast of Laxmii, including Akshay, never gave their hearts and souls in the movie. It all seemed that the actors had been conveyed from places and put together to put forward their dialogues.
Therefore, neither was there an element of a laugh nor horror in the film, the genre that Laxmii boasted of. The flick’s only positivity is the mind-blowing performance of Sharad Kelkar, portraying the original Laxmi’s role. He was powerful and impactful in whatever screen-time he could get.
Preposterous Song Placement
Before the release of the movie, the songs Burj Khalifa Bam Bholle made instant chartbusters.
However, in the film, the placement of the songs was ridiculous. When it came to Burj Khalifa, it seemed that the flick’s thinking-tank had to forcefully shoot a dance number in a foreign location to gain the audience, which would not have else stuck to watch this pathetic film of over hours.
While Bam Bholle was an action-packed song, but the sequence before and after the revenge dance item is so loosely based, the high-octane dance number seemed boring to the eyes.
Just take an example of similar chartbusters like Khalibali from Padmavaat or Malhaari from Bajirao Mastani. Both the songs had a firm purpose, either after the victory for a fierce battle (in the case of Malhaari) or a dance to prepare a war to get the most desirable wish (in the case of Khalibali). However, in Bam Bholle, neither of the actions seemed to create a goosebump effect of thrill and chill in the audience.
Again an out of context and the most vexatious song of the film was Start-Stop at the beginning of the movie. The lyrics, the beat, the music, and the cinematography were jarring and torture to the eyes and ears.
Age-old Hinduphobic Script
Within a few days of the announcement of Laxmii, the director and the actor of the original flick Muni 2: Kanchana, Raghava Lawrence, decided to part ways with the movie due to creative differences. After making a lot of headlines, Raghava was convinced and bought back to the project.
However, we can now assume what might be the actual reason for the “creative-differences.”
The lead characters in the original movie were named Raghava and Priya. The remake, however, has changed the name to Aasif and Rashmi. The predicament doesn’t lie while showcasing a Muslim man marrying a Hindu woman. Of course, love has no confinement on age, caste, religion, and gender.
However, the biggest problem here is the Hindu religion’s demeaning exhibition right from the word go.
As an audience, we are straight away induced to the fact that the majority of the Hindu priests are fraud in the introductory scene of Aasif. While throughout the movie, we see Aasif emphasizing the generosity, genuineness, and big-hearted feature of the Muslim community, while the Hindu community is shown as backward, orthodox, rigid, and cruel through the portrayal of Rashmi’s and Laxmi’s family. The way it was pinpointed, it was incredibly problematic, and probably the movie’s thinking tank was determined to show the prejudice.
On the whole, Laxmii is a painful experience of nearly two and a half hours. While the movie tries to empower the transgender community, the lack of effort right from the beginning to the end kills the viewers’ patience to watch it. With an IMDB rating of 2.2, you can surely understand why missing this flick will save your time and energy. I will go with half a star for Laxmii.
