Akshay Kumar’s hotly anticipated horror comedy and thriller Laxmmi Bomb has now been renamed to simply ‘Laxmii’. The decision was taken by the producers — Akshay Kumar’s Cape of Good Films, Fox Star Studios, Shabinaa Khan and Tusshar Kapoor. The movie skipped theatres and is to premiere on Disney Plus Hotstar as a direct to digital release.
As the release date of Laxmmi Bomb, now called Laxmii, approached, the makers got more and more jittery as protests and opposition arose from various Hindu organisations. First the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha of Karnataka opposed the release of Laxmmi Bomb on the ground that it hurts the sentiments of Hindus with its reference to the Hindu Goddess Laxmi in what they assumed to be a derogatory manner.
Even as the protests gained momentum, the infamous Karni Sena jumped into the melee this morning. The organisation has filed a legal complaint against the makers of Laxmmi Bomb on the grounds that it disrespects and “lowers the dignity” of Goddess Laxmi. The Shri Rajput Karni Sena sent the notice via advocate Raghavendra Mehrotra. Karni Sena is infamous for previously protesting against Bollywood films, Padmavat and Manikarnika for distorting Indian culture.
There are also reports in the media that state that at the time of submitting Laxmmi Bomb to the Censor Board of India CBFC, the producers and stakeholders held a discussion, at the end of which they voluntarily decided to rename the movie as Laxmii. The reason given is that they are apparently wary of hurting religious sentiments of the Indian public.
Laxmmi Bomb, renamed as Laxmii, stars Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani as leads, and is directed by Raghava Lawrence. Laxmii releases on Disney Plus Hotstar on 9th November, the most keenly awaited Diwali release.