Laxmii is the remake of Tamil hit Kanchana. (Photo: Akshay Kumar/Twitter)Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani’s horror-comedy Laxmii will premiere on Disney Plus Hotstar at 7:05 pm today. The Raghava Lawrence directorial is the remake of his own Tamil hit Kanchana. Produced by Akshay Kumar’s Cape of Good Films, Fox Star Studios and Tusshar Kapoor, Laxmii also features Ashwini Kalsekar, Sharad Kelkar, Manu Rishi and Ayesha Raza.
Laxmii revolves around an unsuspecting man whose body gets taken over by a spirit. Talking about his role in the film, Akshay had earlier shared, “I’ve been in my career for 30 years. But the character of Laxmmi has been the most mentally intensive role I’ve ever played. But somehow I managed it. And I thank my director. He is behind everything about this character — how it moves, what it says and how it dances.”
Director Raghava Lawrence stressed that Laxmii infuses social messaging about the transgender community with horror and comedy, and he is thrilled to have Akshay Kumar leading the film. “In Hindi, when Akshay sir is playing the role, I believe that the message will reach an even wider audience. My special thanks to Akshay sir for accepting and playing this role,” he told PTI.
Raghava said the idea to make Kanchana came when a few transgender people approached a trust run by him. When he heard their story, he thought of chronicling it for the big screen. “I wanted to tell their story to everyone, first through the character of Kanchana and now with Laxmmi in this movie. After watching the film, audiences will know what I am talking about,” the filmmaker said.
Actor Tusshar Kapoor, who is venturing into film production with Akshay Kumar-starrer Laxmii, says it was a natural progression rather than a calculated career move. He said, “It is not like I am getting into next stage (of my career) as a producer. It was a natural decision that came very spontaneously.”
“I am not changing tracks. I will be doing both acting and producing. If I get the right subject, I will act in and produce the same film. My next film will be as an actor,” Tusshar told PTI in an interview. “It is not that I am trying to make a statement as a producer. My choice will always be on the basis of the script and content,” Tusshar added.
"Akshay was a hoot in Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Priydarshan’s 2007 flick which was also a horror-comedy. As befits a Priyan film, the strokes were broad, but there was some thought and structure to the film. Laxmii, previously called Laxmmi Bomb, seems to have been assembled as it went along, with not one coherent thought through it. How does a film, you may want to ask, whose leading man is meant to be a crusader against ‘bhoot, pret and aatma,’ happily stuff itself with babas, and protective ‘vibhuti,’ and a ‘three-eyed-coconut’ which rotates if it senses an evil spirit? Nope, not kidding. And as we are being very secular here, there’s also a kohl-eyed Musalmaan character who holds out a ‘taaweez’ which will keep our hero ‘mehfooz’? The threat of a Christian priest is held out too, but mercifully the script, such as there is, forgets about it," wrote The Indian Express' film critic Shubhra Gupta in her review of Laxmii. Read more here.
"Whattt! Mind-blowing! Fantastic! Climax of #Laxmii >>> Original Kanchana. Akshay Kumar sir Nailed it. He should get National Award for this performance," tweeted a fan.
"#Laxmii Horror + Emotion + Comedy + Social Message. @akshaykumar
What an awesome performance. All out entertainment !! Paisa Vasool," tweeted noted entrepreneur Vishal Gondal.
"Lacks the impact of the original [#Kanchana]... #AkshayKumar in terrific form, but weak screenwriting + forced comedy are downers... Gathers momentum in concluding portions... Expected so much more!" tweeted trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
"Super fantastic interval point for #Laxmii. Aa gayi Akshay Kumar ke andar aatma. Ab bawaal hoga, solid bawaal!!!! While first half has some humorous moments, expecting a lot of drama and thrills in the second half. Geared up already!" tweeted trade analyst Joginder Tuteja.
I watched #Laxmii movie, your acting is wonderful. You are number 1," tweeted an elated fan.
Sharing a photo of himself posing alongside Akshay Kumar, Krushna wrote a sweet message of support for the film and its team.
Talking about the Akshay Kumar movie, and in particular the song BamBholle, Salil mentioned in a post, "Is there anything he cnt do ... saw it late but blown away by #BamBholle ufff @akshaykumar, the choreography, the power, the loom, the feel, the cinematography ... watte a statement the song is for the film #Laxmii #class will be watching it today."
Journalist Manoj Kumar tweeted, "Given that I have watched the original Tamil version of #Laxmii, which is #kanchana, I can say this with confidence that the film is not transphobic." He added, "Director Lawrence is known for giving acting opportunities to transgender talents to include them in mainstream Tamil cinema. So watch the movie with an open mind, you may just end up enjoying it."
Akshay Kumar shared this snippet and invited his fans to stream the Raghava Lawrence directorial on Disney Plus Hotstar VIP.
"Watched a good masala entertainer after a long time. #LaxmiiStreamingToday," a fan called Jahanur Raj tweeted.
While speaking to the Hindustan Times in an interview, transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi said, "Any transgender is equal to any man or woman, which comes out from the film in a very strong way. I believe it is wonderful, and instead of criticism, we should appreciate Akshay ji for being such a strong man and doing such a strong film."
The Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani horror-comedy has released ahead of time. The film, which was supposed to premiere at 7 pm, is now available to stream on the OTT platform.
Everyone is seemingly upbeat about watching Akshay Kumar dance in the upbeat track "BamBholle."
Sharing a video earlier, Jackky Bhagnani tweeted, "All the best @akshaykumar sir for #Laxmii. This ones going to be epic, Cant wait to watch it!! We tried our best to emulate the energy. #BamBholle."
Vindu Dara Singh posted, "There is only the one & only @akshaykumar #BamBholle aap ho aag ke golle and can’t wait to see this super hit film 1st day 1st show on @DisneyplusHSVIP. It would have crossed 200Cr in the theatres any day and now will smash all records online ! #Laxmii."
Taran Adarsh shared the release schedule of Laxmii in international markets.