There’s no doubt that Akshay Kumar has emerged as India’s biggest Bollywood actor in the past couple of years as the three Khan collectively has seen their star power plummet. While Akshay’s films have certainly sent the cash registers ringing at the box office, off late some of his movies have defied all sense of logic, case in point being Housefull 4. It was believed that Akshay cannot beat the new lows discovered by the Housefull franchise, his latest offering Laxmii is not only an insult to logic, it is also extremely derogatory to Hindus and the Transgender community.
As if competing with himself to prove himself to be the lowest through his films, Akshay’s recent offering ‘Laxmii’ is not only a disastrous film but is also an insult to the Sanatana Dharma, transgenders and logic.
The movie which had a direct to OTT release on Hotstar appears to have broken viewership records but that doesn’t mask the film’s problematic scenes.
The story of the Raghav Lawrence directed film revolves around a man named Asif, who has little faith in supernatural elements. Things take a turn when the soul of a transgender enters Asif and how that soul takes the revenge for the repeated injustice meted out to Asif, forms the basis of the film.
As is the norm with many Bollywood movies, logic is taken for a toss with songs being placed in a haphazard manner with the quality of jokes so poor that even Rahul Gandhi’s speeches would enact more laughs. As if this wasn’t enough, the film is further mired by overacting thereby making the film a truly painful watch.
However, the real problem lies in the film’s determination to mete out constant insults to Hindus and the transgender community.
As unfortunate it may be, there is no denying the fact that despite having importance in the culture of the country, the transgender community have not received their due respect, and it was hoped that the film ‘Laxmii’ would correct this gross injustice. Turns out, the film, instead of bringing the mainstream issues of the transgender community, ends up exacerbating the plight of the community.
At the beginning of the film, it is shown how a Hindu family claims to be possessed by a witch in order to get rid of a woman and torture her at the hands of a Baba. Not only this, Hindus are prorated as vile creatures who even kick their eunuch children out. In addition, they are sly, hypocrites, and also oppose inter-caste marriages.
Not only this, but the film also works overtime to showcase Muslims as a very good and civilized society. Whether it is Abdul Chacha who takes care of transgender Laxmii, or the main protagonist Asif, minority appeasement has been promoted once again through this film. There is certainly no harm in showing the Muslim community in good light, but it is problematic when another community is often shown as draconian monsters which is often the norm with many Bollywood films.
As if taking a cue from the Tanishq controversy, the film attempts to promote love jihad, while also trying to prove to anyone who questions this practice through a child. A Twitter Handel Secularism of Bollywood has explained all these things in great detail –
#LaxmiBomb, a movie full of propaganda, demeans Hindus and their faith. Watch and share this thread.
Hindu Family still stuck with the Hindu-Muslim debate and Asif (Akshay Kumar) will prove that Rashmi (Kiara Advani) took a good decision of getting married to him (Muslim). 1/5 pic.twitter.com/A9oouoPmvZ— Secularism Of Bollywood (@SecularBolly) November 9, 2020
However, if this film has insulted a community the most, then it is the transgender community. As such, ‘Laxmii’ was an attempt to uplift the Kinnar society, as Akshay Kumar claimed through a video, but it clearly fails to serve the purpose.
If there was anything good in this film, it was only Sharad Kelkar. The way he assimilated the life of a eunuch, his aspirations, it seems that the real heroes were those, who showed up to 10 times better than Akshay Kumar in just 15 minutes. But to see their performance, you will have to wait for an hour and a half, and seeing the quality of this film, very few would be able to stay with the film for so long.
To be fair, Laxmii is a disastrous film, which ridicules not only Sanatana Dharma, but also the transgender community and pragmatism. This film is so bad that Housefull 4 looks like an Oscar-worthy film in comparison.