Laxmii Movie Review: Akshay Kumar and Sharad Kelkar shine in this humorless horror-comedy

New Delhi: For director Raghava Lawrence, ‘Laxmii’ could have been his big-ticket entry into Bollywood but we think he needs to wait some more for this now. Laxmii is a remake of his 2011 Tamil blockblaster ‘Kanchana’ and the horror-comedy was supposed to leave the audience laughing aloud on their seats but could only manage to churn out boring humour. The film lacked spice and was definitely not a Diwali blast, nevertheless, the star cast put up a great show with their performances.

Laxmii, which was earlier titled ‘Laxmmi Bomb’ is essentially a story of a transgender character, played brilliantly by Sharad Kelkar. How he is wronged and killed makes for a good thrilling narrative towards the climax of an otherwise absurdly written script. The film lacked spice and was definitely not a Diwali blast, nevertheless, the star cast put up a great show with their performances. Akshay Kumar as Asif/Laxmmi, Kiara Advani as Rashmi, Sharad Kelkar as original Laxmmi and others including Rajesh Sharma, Ayesha Raza Mishra and Manu Rishi Chadha were perfect in their skins.

The plot moves at a comfortable pace and will keep you hooked. The climax, though, feels a bit abrupt and points towards the possibility of a sequel. The sub-plots are also integrated into the main storyline towards the end.

Akshay Kumar is brilliant throughout the film. He owns the frame right from his first scene, when he busts the myth of a ‘baba’ who is trying to exorcise a spirit from a woman’s body through his ‘magical’ lotas. The actor’s energy remains unmatched and will remind you of his performance in the 2007 film Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Thirteen years later, in a script of the same genre, the actor hits the nail on the head, yet again. His body language when he is possessed by Laxmi deserves a special mention.

Songs like Burj Khalifa and Bam Bholle are the only takeaways. A rock-solid supporting cast with actors like Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Manu Rishi Chadha and Jab We Met’s Anshuman aka Tarun Arora on board, the audience expected a better watch.

Claiming to break stereotypes by heavily stereotyping people across the board is a device bad Bollywood never seems to get enough of: all the transgender characters clap their hands, and dance around a fire; a good Muslim character wears a ‘topi’ and beard; and everyone else speaks their lines in the hope of making us laugh.