Laxmii Movie Review in one word – Laxmii is no where near KANCHANA, it lets you wanting for more. The Story of LAXMII revolves around the character Asif [Akshay Kumar], possessed by the ghost of a transgender, who had been brutally murdered. The family [his wife and in-laws] soon realise Laxmii’s motive: Revenge.
What is disappointing is LAXMII is no where close to Raghava Lawrence KANCHANA, which had tremendous response at the Tamil box office, the Hindi remake set lot of expectations, although one discovers in the movie the changes in the narrative to cater to the Hindi audience is far too weak to get you excited about the film.
The big issue with LAXMII is its weak screenwriting. It hinges on humour for most of its first half, but it doesn’t add up to audience liking as one would have anticipated. Though towards the second half — when Sharad Kelkar makes an entry — that the narrative gathers little bit of momentum. That point onwards, right till the climax, it does get eyeballs.
Laxmii Movie Review
When it starts, you have hope. Kumar plays Aasif (gulp, yes, a Muslim), married to Rashmi (Advani), a good Hindu girl. Given that the star has been fervently waving the nationalist flag in his recent movies, just the fact of him playing one half of a Hindu-Muslim jodi, hawww, comes as a pleasant surprise. Rashmi’s mum (Mirza) asks runaway ‘beti’ to come home, all is forgiven, ‘naaraaz daddyiji’ ( Sharma) notwithstanding, and along goes the happy couple, expecting to be blessed, and taken into the fold.
But, if you analyze, the horror tropes don’t leave much of an impact. Ideally, the jump scares should give you chills, but it’s old school . Even the songs — especially the first two songs [including ‘Burj Khalifa’] — deserved better situations.
A precocious child actor is made to spout this line: ‘abhi bhi Hindu-Muslim mein atkey huey hain.’ But don’t be fooled, going against ‘love jihad’ isn’t this film’s intention. It’s fashioned as a horror-comedy, based on the director’s 2011 Tamil original, Kanchana. So we get, in rapid succession, a haunted parcel of land, menacing shadows flitting about in the middle of the night, creaking doors, heartbroken sobs, reducing the household, which includes Rashmi’s brother (Chadha) and sister-in-law (Kalsekar) to gibbering buffoons.
And Aasif, whose life’s mission it is to fight superstition, starts acting funny: is he just pulling a fast one on us, or is he possessed by a ‘bhatakti-hui-aatma,’ out to take revenge?
Raghava Lawrence, who also played role in original, should have got a solid backing by the writer, which is a complete let down. The writers try to cliché humour in the classic horror curry, but it lacks the punch. While, recent horror-comedy hits like GOLMAAL AGAIN [2017] and STREE [2018] drew big audience applause for its strong screenplay. Unfortunately, LAXMII is a wasted opportunity.
On the song front ‘Bam Bholle’ is clearly the best score, in terms of situation and choreography. The background score adds spunk to the proceedings, while the DoP captures the mood of the film right. The VFX — had lot of room for enhancement which would have made the movie gripping in places.
Performance wise Akshay Kumar hogs the limelight. It’s a physically demanding character and the actor has given out his very best, proving his worth as a actor who can play different roles, and he does deliver a strong performance. Kiara Advani looks gorgeous, but gets limited opportunity to create an impact. The big surprise is Sharad Kelkar. He is brilliant.
LAXMII has a long line up of actors — Rajesh Sharma, Manu Rishi Chadha, Ayesha Raza, Ashwini Kalsekar, Tarun Arora and Prachee Shah — and each one of them tried their bit to make the movie work in their own ways.
Yet, LAXMII lacks the KANCHANA punch. One anticipated so much more from this film, but it clearly lets you down.
This movie is purely for Akshay Kumar fans and also, for the Raghava Lawrence. What worked for the original was the impeccable screenwriting of the film. The untrodden plot — with a strong message — that stays with you when you watch it. #YehDiwaliLaxmiiWali💥 #FoxStarStudios #Laxmii #DisneyPlusHotstarMultiplex
Laxmii movie cast: Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Manu Rishi Chadha, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Sharad Kelkar, Tarun Arora
Laxmii movie director: Raghava Lawrence