The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has called for a ban on actor Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb, which is set to be released on 9th November on Disney+ Hotstar against the backdrop of Diwali. The Samiti has alleged that the film is intentionally titled Laxmmi Bomb. The Samiti’s first objection is to the title of the film, which, according to it, has denigrated Goddess Laxmi Devi, the deity of millions of Hindus. “Also, the name of the hero in this film is Asif while the name of the heroine is Priya Yadav,” says the spokesman of the Samiti, adding, “Thus, the film purposefully encourages love jihad by displaying the relationship between a Muslim youth and a Hindu girl.” It is for these two reasons that the Samiti has demanded a ban on the film.
The Samiti’s first objection is to the title of the film.
Ramesh Shinde, national spokesman of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, said, “The film Mohammad: The Messenger Of God had hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims, and, therefore, the Maharashtra home minister had voluntarily taken cognisance and immediately recommended a ban on the film. On the same lines, the government should also recommend a ban on Laxmmi Bomb which insults Hindu deities.”
The Samiti has alleged that as one of the producers of the film is Shabina Khan, and the writer is Farhad Samji, it is clear that they are spreading anti-Hindu propaganda on purpose. It has warned, “If our demand for a ban is not heeded, we will be forced to launch a strong agitation.”
“If our demand for a ban is not heeded, we will be forced to launch a strong agitation.”
On his part, Raghava Lawrence, the film’s director, has said that the Tamil original, on which Laxmmi Bomb is based, was titled Kanchana, because the lead character’s name was Kanchana. He explained, “Kanchana means ‘gold’ which is a form of Laxmi. Earlier, I considered going the same way for the Hindi remake but we collectively decided that the name must appeal to the Hindi audience as well, and what better than Laxmmi. By God’s grace, it was turning out to be a cracker of a film, so we named it Laxmmi Bomb. Like the dhamaka of a Laxmi bomb cannot be missed, the transgender lead character is powerful and radiant and hence cannot be missed.”