On Thursday, the Cannes Film Festival revealed The Laugh of Lakshmi, a collaborative production between India and Australia. S. Shakthidharan will write and direct the movie.The Laugh of Lakshmi, is supposed to be a combination of dance and drama,and it will begin filming in India in early 2023. It will be a collaborative enterprise between India and Australia, led by S Shakthidharan, an Australian of Sri Lankan and Tamil origin. The project was announced during the Cannes Film Festival on May 19th.
The Laugh of Lakshmi will be the first collaboration between Frames Per Second Films and Felix Media in Australia, according to Rakasree Basu, CEO of Frames Per Second Films in Mumbai. Filming of the movie will be done in the locations of Tamil Nadu and Australia.”I commend the Government of India’s newly unveiled reward for foreign film and television production,” he continued. This will undoubtedly stimulate and enhance all foreign productions considering to shoot in India with Indian actors and crew who are experienced and skilled. This project would encourage international filmmakers to explore multicultural workspace, promote shared learning of filmmaking techniques, and promote India as a desirable filming location for international productions. As the Nation of Pride in Cannes, India is off to a strong start.” This is the first time a country has been honoured by the Cannes Film Market.
With this film, Shakthidharan, who is also the writer, will make the transition and will shift from the world of theatres to the world of movie. His play Counting and Cracking, set over four generations in Sri Lanka and Australia, was a major success in Australia, winning seven Helpmann Awards. Counting and Cracking will be released in the United Kingdom soon.The Laugh of Lakshmi, according to Shakthidharan, is a narrative about a mother and son divided by conflict in Sri Lanka. The mother, a well-known traditional Indian dancer, entrusts her young son, who is also a gifted dancer, to her brother in Sydney. The mother and son “find” one other after a twenty-five-year separation and live in completely different neighbourhoods.
Prasanna Vithanage, a well-known Sri Lankan personality, will be the part of the film’s production team.