Laxmii is in a danger of bombing out for no fault of its own. The hugely anticipated Akshay Kumar movie is scheduled for release on Disney Hotstar this Diwali. This is first OTT release featuring Akshay Kumar who has consistently entertained all of us with blockbusters. The movie itself is a remake of a very successful Tamil movie with the same name.
It can be argued that this family entertainer is a sure shot hit.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xw0gE8QA1W0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>However, we fear, this will not be the case.
For any paranormal movie to be truly successful, the first and foremost need is for the audience to live and breathe the storyline along with its characters.
It’s easy to achieve in the closed and controlled environment of movie theatres. The absolute darkness during movie’s play time itself is one of the key reasons of why good paranormal movies are a big theatrical hit.
Then there is the immersive sound and the picture quality. while most of the OTT audience will watch Laxmii on a high-resolution screen the picture quality will vary as per the light falling on the screen, change in network speeds, disturbances by household chores and so on.
The so-called immersive experience so very required for enjoying and appreciating this kind of a movie will not be achieved in most of the cases. The audience will come back complaining that something was missing and that the movie could have been better.
It should have been a responsibility of Disney Hotstar to teach its subscribers how to watch a movie like this. ideally one should block time, preferably in night, to watch this movie. While watching this movie every effort should be made that there is no external stimulus of light and sound. audience should also avoid any unnecessary conversations during this movie. Even snacking and dinner should be replica of Theatre experience.
Akshay is playing the characters of ‘Asif’ and ‘Laxmmi’, one is trying to convince the parents of Kiara, while the other has come to take revenge. The character of ‘Asif’ does not believe in ghosts as a dialogue confirms– “Jis din sach mein mere samne bhoot aaya na, toh maa kasam choodiya pehn lunga.”. The film, directed by Raghava Lawrence, also features Kiara Advani (opposite Akshay), Tusshar Kapoor, Sharad Kelkar and Ashwini Kalsekar. In contrast to 2007 horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Akshay is seen playing the role of a possessed transgender woman in the three-minute-forty-second trailer.
You can watch it live from Tomorrow onwards on Hotstar.
