Laxmii – the first big-budget Bollywood Blockbuster to release post COVID-19 lockdown!
The Akshay Kumar starring film that everyone has been waiting for – Laxmii, will finally hit cinemas in the UAE on Monday, 9th November 2020. The film – a remake of Tamil blockbuster Muni 2: Kanchana, is directed by Raghava Lawrence and will also feature stars such as Kiara Advani, Tusshar Kapoor, Sharad Kelkar and Ashwini Kalsekar.
The Horror comedy film revolves around Akshay Kumar who plays a dual role: Asif – a man who doesn’t believe in ghosts, and Laxmii – a powerful and radiant transgender ghost seeking revenge.
Fox Star Studios, the leading production house confirmed that the movie will simultaneously have a theatrical release in Australia, New Zealand and UAE, and will release on their OTT platform – Disney+ Hotstar for audiences in India.
Here’s everything we know about Laxmii prior to its release:
Director:
Raghava Lawrence – mainly known for Telugu and Tamil movies, originally embarked on the idea to direct Muni 2: Kanchana when a trust run by him was approached by a group of transgenders. Upon hearing their story, he decided to take the social message to a much wider audience by portraying it on the big screen, and based on its success, moved on to remake the film with title name Laxmii, extending it to Hindi audiences.
Movie Title Change:
The film was originally titled Laxmmi Bomb up until 29th October 2020, but changed to Laxmii with a view to respect religious sentiments of a group of protestors in India. This is not the first-time intolerance in India has won though, for back in 2018, the epic period drama film Padmavati was changed to Padmaavat.
Trailer Success:
When the trailer dropped on 9th October 2020, it became the most viewed movie trailer in India in just 24 hours with 70 million views (YouTube + other social media platforms).
Song Feature on the Burj Khalifa:
UAE has always been a popular destination with directors and producers of both Hollywood and Bollywood. From natural and man-made landscapes; which are vast and varied, flame hued deserts, to futuristic skylines and iconic landmarks, UAE has been featured as the backdrop in numerous films that released in 2020 and from back in the past.
Popular films featuring UAE include Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Fast & Furious 7 (2015) and most recently Jackie Chan’s action movie Vanguard (2020) and Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi/adventure Dune (set to release in 2021).
Certain scenes of Laxmii too were filmed in the emirate of Dubai, which include the desert and Dubai Marina. The film also dedicates a song to the iconic Burj Khalifa – a trendy single that has grabbed eyeballs across the internet and is expected to be one of the biggest Bollywood party anthems of the year.
Advertisers…. here’s an opportunity to target Asian audiences in the lead up to Diwali. We’ve also recently launched a ‘Special Offer’ for advertising alongside this movie. Contract a member of our sales team for more information on the Laxmii ‘Special Offer’.
Sources: IndiaTV News, Times of India, Condé Nast Traveller, The Hindu, The National and Gulf News
Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, has lit up for many special events previously, but for a movie? Now, that’s a first!
Avengers: Infinity War will release across cinemas in the UAE on Thursday 26th April 2018, and Burj Khalifa is joining Avengers fans in hype for this highly anticipated and star-studded movie.
“An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time,” says Marvel.
The Burj Khalifa will count down to the release of the new film every day at 7:50pm until Thursday 26th April 2018.
Downtown Dubai shared a picture on social media of the Avenger-themed lighting covering Burj Khalifa.
The picture was captioned with the hashtag #InfinityWarWithEmaar, inviting people to use the hashtag and post their pictures for a chance to win tickets to watch the movie.
People are now sharing all kinds of thoughts and feelings about the Avengers’ movie, as well as posts about the Burj Khalifa countdown, expressing their amusement and astonishment.
Here’s what some posted:
“This level of magnificence!!!! Dubai took architect extraordinaire, Adrian Smith’s [Burj Khalifa’s architect] genius to another level… This is why I now love Dubai,” someone commented on the picture.
Kim Lesplingard Marketing Manager in the Middle East & North Africa at the Walt Disney Company posted: “A Guinness World Record Mickey Mouse was one of the highlights in my career, but having a countdown to the biggest movie on the tallest building in the world is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!”
Twitter had its share as well with posts like “OMG how cool is the #InfinityWarWithEmaar in Dubai, cannot wait for this film next weekend!!”
A record-breaking light show
On New Year’s Eve, Burj Khalifa earned itself a new Guinness World Record with its New Year’s Eve laser and light show titled “Light Up 2018”, “the largest laser, light and sound show on a single structure”.
In a video shared by Burj Khalifa’s media team, Bashar Kassab, Technical Services Director of the world’s tallest building, explained the challenges that his team faces when installing and maintaining the structure’s LED exterior.
“We use more than 110 kilometres of rope access, 72 kilometres of cabling and 10,000 connectors to cover a total area of 33,000 square meters,” Kassab says.
So if the Burj Khalifa can host the largest laser light and sound show, promoting a movie is clearly a simple act.
Source: AMEinfo
