Laxmii

About the film

Laxmii is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language horror comedy film written and directed by Raghava Lawrence, marking his directorial debut in the Hindi film industry. A remake of his director's own Tamil film Kanchana (2011), it stars Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani and Sharad Kelkar, while Ayesha Raza Mishra, Rajesh Sharma and Ashwini Kalsekar play pivotal roles. The film revolves around a man who gets possessed by the ghost of a transgender person. Kumar, also produced the film under his Cape of Good Films and Fox Star Studios, along with Tusshar Kapoor's newly launched production company,

Tusshar Entertainment House and Shabinaa Entertainment. Lawrence co-wrote the script along with Farhad Samji, Sparsh Khetarpal, Tasha Bhambra, with Samji adapting the screenplay and dialogues to the Hindi version. The film was announced in January 2019, whilst the principal photography began in April 2019 and ended in March 2020.

Plot

Asif Ahmed, who doesn't believe in ghosts, lives with his wife Rashmi Rajput and nephew Shaan. They're invited to Rashmi's parents' Ratna and Sachin's house in Daman for their silver jubilee. Rashmi's father disapproves of the couple as Rashmi, a Hindu, had eloped with Asif, a Muslim, but her mother is kind to them. They meet Rashmi's brother Deepak and his wife, Ashwini. Asif and Shaan visit the grounds next door that are believed to be haunted. While he is putting stumps into the ground for a game of cricket, the stumps hit a buried body. Blood gets on the stumps but Asif mistakes it for wet soil and washes it off into the house's lemongrass plant.

Following this, Ratna, Ashwini, and Deepak all have supernatural experiences in the house. Following a priest's instructions, they confirm that there is indeed a spirit present among them. Asif makes lemongrass tea with the same plant he washed the blood in. When he drinks it, the ghost possesses him, and he begins to act effeminate, and goes on killing sprees at night, alerting the family except Asif, that something is wrong. It is revealed that three ghosts have kept him: a violent transgender woman, a Muslim man, and a mentally disabled boy. Asif's family hires an exorcist who drives the main spirit out of his body; trapped, the ghost reveals her story.

Laxman Sharma alias Laxmii was disowned by her parents as a child for being transgender. She is taken in by a kind Muslim named Abdul Chacha, who has a mentally disabled son. Regretting that she could not become a doctor because of her parents' lack of support, Laxmii adopts another transgender girl named Geeta and works hard to support her financially. When Geeta leaves to study medicine abroad, Laxmii buys a plot of land to construct a hospital. The crooked MLA Girja illegally seizes her property. When Laxmii angrily confronts Girja and his wife, they brutally murder her, Abdul Chacha and his son, and bury the bodies in Laxmii's own land, the grounds that are now next door. Laxmii has already killed Girja's henchmen while possessing Asif earlier.

Production

In January 2019, media reports suggested that Akshay Kumar will star in the remake of Kanchana (2011), directed by Raghava Lawrence, who also signed to helm the Hindi version of it, thus making his debut in Bollywood, whereas Kiara Advani, plays the female lead. The film marks Kumar's return to horror comedy-genre after a decade since Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007). Sources claimed that the sequences in the film will be different as of the original counterpart. Farhad Samji, who directed the actor's Housefull 4 (2019), wrote the screenplay for the film, with sources claimed that the work took six months to complete the adaptation. The film marks the debut of Tusshar Kapoor's stint as a producer, who bought the rights of the film, post licensing his production house in early 2013. On 22 April 2019, the film's title was revealed as Laxmmi Bomb. The titular poster featuring Kumar was released on 18 May 2019.

The principal photography of the film began on 22 April 2019. The film came in the middle of controversy after Raghava Lawrence, quit the film in May 2019, as Kumar released the first look without consulting him. It was revealed that the director does not have any credit, in the poster which resulted him to quit the film. In June 2019, Lawrence announced his return to direction, after sorting out issues with Kumar.

The second schedule of the film began in August 2019. The song "Burj Khalifa" featuring Akshay Kumar and Kiara was filmed in Dubai in January 2020. The climax scene of the film was shot at Mumbai on 26 February 2020, and filming was completed on 1 March 2020.

Music

The film's music was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Shashi–DJ Khushi and Ullumanati while lyrics written by Vayu, Gagan Ahuja, Farhad Samji and Ullumanati. The background score was composed by Amar Mohile.

The song "Bam Bhole" is the remake of the song of the same name, by its original artists, Viruss and Ullumanati. The original song was released on an independent label called Acme Music, in 2017 and is a superhit song with more than 200 million views on YouTube.

The song "Mata Ka Jagrata" is a medley of the songs "Apna Time Aayega" from Gully Boy, "Kala Chashma" from Baar Baar Dekho and "Main Nikla Gaddi Leke" from Gadar: Ek Prem Katha.

Key details