Akshay Kumar accused of Hinduphobia due to Laxmii

After a long wait, Akshay Kumar’s Laxmii, earlier titled Laxmmi Bomb, released on 9 November evening on Disney+Hotstar. The comedy-horror film, directed by Raghava Lawrence, has failed to impress the film critics as a majority of the reviews that it has received are negative. In fact, its previews were negative too — as a large section of the Hindu community was appealing to people to not watch it.

The calls for boycotting the film stemmed from several facts:

1. The uncharitable reference to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi
2. Akshay Kumar’s portrayal of an atheistic scientist in Mission Mangal where the character had said the Hindu rituals were an exercise in futility
3. The impression that Akshay Kumar and his wife Twinkle Khanna play ‘good cop bad cop’, with the actor speaking like a patriotic Indian and the retired actress-turned-blogger lampooning most ideas dear to the right wing
4. The fast-spreading knowledge that Akshay Kumar is actually a Canadian citizen

The audience seems disappointed with the film too. In fact, netizens galore have felt that the film is disrespectful towards the transgender community as well. There are others who feel that the film is Hinduphobic.

“From the starting of movie you will notice the mockery of hindu. A film just made to spread the anti hindu propoganda for muslim. it is nowhere near to original kanchana. Dull comedy, overacting and lack of horror moments. #LaxmiiReview,” wrote one user on Twitter.

“#LaxmiiReview The trans community faced SO MUCH bullying & harrassment after Kanchana & another movie promoting transphobia is made now too? People weren’t accepting them already & it may be worse now? SHAME ON YOU @akshaykumar,” read another tweet.

Yet another Twitter user said, “#LaxmiiReview is- 0.5/5 Akshay Kumar is completely overacting in the role of Kinnar & Hinduphobic. Total waste of time and waste of data. #LaxmiiReview”

Below, take a look at some other tweets:

Laxmii has been courting controversies ever since its announcement. It was last month when Shri Rajput Karni Sena sent the makers a notice demanding change in the film’s title. The notice said that the film’s original title, Laxmmi Bomb, was disrespectful towards Goddess Laxmi and thus hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community. The makers obeyed the demand and changed the title to Laxmii.

Laxmii was earlier slated to hit the big screen on Eid this year, when it would have clashed with Salman Khan’s Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai. However, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the makers missed the release date. Later, it was decided that the film will skip the theatrical release to directly release on Disney+Hotstar. It is possibly the first direct-to-digital release this year featuring a star of Akshay’s stature.

Laxmii, co-starring Kiara Advani, is the official remake of 2011 Tamil film Kanchana. Featuring Sharad Kelkar, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Rajesh Sharma and Ashwini Kalsekar, the film is written by Lawrence, in association with Farhad Samji, Sparsh Khetarpal and Tasha Bhambr. It is a joint production venture between Fox Star Studios, Cape of Good Films, Shabinaa Entertainment and Tusshar Entertainment House.