In an unprecedented move to show the world who’s the real boss in a film project, director Raghava Lawrence has overnight walked out of Laxmmi Bomb the much-talked about remake of the 2011 Tamil blockbuster Muni 2 Kanchana about a man whose body is taken over by the spirit of a transgender. Akshay Kumar, who plays the lead in the remake, proudly displayed the film’s first poster on the social media on Saturday. But the move was not taken well by director Raghava Lawrence who announced his exit from the remake citing disrespect as a prime reason for his departure.
He also expressed disappointment and humiliation at Akshay kumar outing the first look without informing the director. Raghava’s move has shocked the Bollywood film industry where even the most reputed directors are known to bow to their superstar-hero’s whims. Or else they are shown the door. Kabir Khan who was a close friend of Salman Khan until Tubelight when the hero’s suggestions where firmly shot down by the director. Kabir’s relations with Salman were severed thereafter.”
Sources say Raghava saw what was coming. “He knew this ghost film will be ghost-directed. Nowadays superstars like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar are very active on the sets. Raghava must have been warned. He belongs to the old school of filmmaking where the director is King on the sets. Rather than bear with the intervention, Raghava has gracefully walked out,” says a source in the know.
It is common knowledge in Bollywood that barring Amitabh Bachchan, every superstar from Rajesh Khanna to Ranveer Singh likes has contributed to the direction. Raghava Lawrence refused to comply with extraneous authority.
One hears the producers Shabina Khan and Tuushar Kapoor are now frantically on the look-out for a replacement for Raghava Lawrence. This would be hard to find at the last minute. Considering Akshay Kumar has already announced the release date (June 5, 2020) for Laxmmi Bomb he may end up directing the film himself.
