Lakshmi is the story of titular character played by Monali Thakur, a 14-year-old girl who is abducted and sold trafficked into prostitution in a Hyderabadi brothel. The film is a harrowing account of the exploitation of young girls into prostitution. The portrayal of the brothel is an antithesis of the countless romanticised stories of what popular Hindi cinema used to show as courtesans, who dance and sing and who are overall very stereotypical filmi figures the kind of which you won't see here. The brothel is very much a real place which gathers some demonic humans who mercilessly trade young girls' bodies. The main madame, played by Shefali Shah, is testament to that, as she is a real person, who is cruel and kind in equal doses. She can be loving and caring one moment, and absolutely wicked and vicious the next, because that's what the job calls for, and she has a young daughter whose future depends on this very job. She is a very effective manager, as terrifying as it may sound, and Shah is brilliant in this difficult role, as usual.
Lakshmi is directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, who also plays the cruel trader and head of the brothel, along with his elder brother, Reddy, played by the great Satish Kaushik in a role that epitomises a wolf in sheep's clothing. Kukunoor does his best to give the brothel a horrific feel of authenticity, but while it could be mistaken as a realistic portrayal, it is much subtler than one would expect. The tough viewing is more due to the story itself, the characters and the dialogue, but the film remains quite clean and spares the viewers the horrid, disturbing pictures of films like, say, Bandit Queen. More than anything, the story takes a cathartic turn of events somewhere post interval where it turns into a standard courtroom drama which sadly isn't the most convincing you'll see. I think Kukunoor, being the director he is, could have done a better job with the material. The title character is played by the well-known singer. She does really well playing the girl's innocence and does look the part even if not exactly so young. The film is a good watch.
