By Arun Sajnani
LAXMMI – For this Diwali, Disney Hotstar is streaming Akshay Kumar & Kiara Advani, in “LAXMMI” Directed By Raghav Lawrence who acted and made the South Indian version as “Kanchana”, while back has now adapted it for the Hindi audience. But make no make no mistake that this is like, “Bhool Bhulaiya”, “Stree”, or even Rohit Shetty’s last “Golmaal Again” – that dealt with mixing comedy and horror together.
Mixing these two genres can be a hit or miss, and with “LAXMMI” that was originally tiled, “Laxmi Bomb”… is unfortunately a miss. I personally felt the first half was not up to the mark, and the humor was over the top with all the family characters that unite under one house in the suburbs. I could not connect or believe in them. Akshay looks a little old now, and Kiara Advani is miscasted to play his wife. She looks like his daughter instead.
Akshay plays the role of Asif, a Muslim who is married to a Hindu girl. Their family has not accepted him, but they reconcile and reunite, when they visit her parents home. But a lot of things are not normal their. There is a lot odd disturbance that has been coming from next door from an empty plot. It happens to be that a transgender was murdered along with his close loved ones there. Kiara’s mother and her sister-in-law feel that there is a wandering spirit creating havoc in their household. It happens to be that this “Bhatakti Aatma” – (Wandering Spirit) – is seeking revenge and wants justice for their murders. The spirit uses Asif’s body as a medium to get the things done.
In parts Akshay Kumar gets the nuances of this “Transgender” – character well. The “Bam Bole” song will chill you, and the “Bhurj Khalifa” song is a hit and will linger in you thoughts. But in actuality there was no need for the song.
Actually Sharad Kelkar’s performance as “LAXMMI”, is the only thing that brings some substance to this film. Overall it was a risky proposition for Akshay Kumar in doing this role. At times the over the top loud acting ruins the films concept for him, and us. It should been just a psychological horror thriller, rather than mixing these two genres. As a result, LAXMII” gets lot in translation. The film gets only a 2 star recommendation. Courtesy Awesome TV & Being Filmy!
BORAT2 SUBSEQUENT FILM – Yes, Sacha Baron Cohen is back in a rehash, or rather a continuation of his “BORAT” character in this sequel. Now streaming on Amazon Prime, it is there for your viewing pleasure. But does this “Kazakhstani” entertain us?? Well like I said the surprise factor, and the ridiculousness is there, but more diluted this time.
This time the comedy satire comes back to look at “Trump’s America”, and how we are doing during the pandemic. This time he has a 15 year old daughter that he wants to give as gift to the Vice President Michael Pence. Borat’s daughter played by Maria Bakalova is portrayed as the “Bride gift”, and how she is part of the undercover mission. It all appears so demeaning, But its all intended to wake us up and see how socially for woman and for mankind on how vastly wrong we have become.
The concept of showing our dire straits America is facing, is all relevant, but the impact gets dry towards the end of the film. The highlight is the uncompromising position that former Mayor Rudy Guiliani is in, when he is in a hotel for an interview. To me I felt he got caught. It looked real. Overall the film is an average affair. Courtesy Awesome TV & Being Filmy!
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