Laxmii 2020

Asif Ahmed, who doesn’t believe in ghosts, lives with his wife Rashmi Rajput and their nephew Shaan. They are invited to Rashmi’s parents’ home in Daman to celebrate their silver jubilee, where the hosts are Ratna and Sachin. Rashmi’s father disapproves of the couple since Rashmi, a Hindu, eloped with Asif, a Muslim, but Rashmi’s mother is kind to them. The family also includes Rashmi’s brother Deepak and his wife Ashwini.

During a visit to the grounds next door that locals deem haunted, Asif Ahmed and Shaan explore the space. While he is hammering stumps into the ground for a casual cricket game, the stumps strike a buried body. Blood stains the stumps, but Asif mistakes it for wet soil and washes the traces into the house’s lemongrass plant, setting off a chain of unexplainable events.

Soon after, Ratna, Ashwini, and Deepak all experience strange, supernatural occurrences inside the house. Following a priest’s instructions, the family confirms that a spirit indeed lingers among them. Asif Ahmed makes lemongrass tea with the same plant he washed the blood in, and when he drinks it, the ghost possesses him. He begins to move with a new, effeminate bearing and embarks on nocturnal killing sprees that escape the family’s notice, except for Asif himself. It becomes clear that three ghosts have taken control of him: a violent transgender woman, a Muslim man, and a mentally disabled boy, each tethered to his life in different, troubling ways.

To confront the peril, the family turns to an exorcist who drives the primary spirit from Asif’s body, but the spirit, now exposed, reveals her full story. The ghost is Laxmii Sharma, a transgender woman who was disowned by her parents as a child. She is taken in by the kind Abdul Chacha, who has a mentally disabled son, and she dreams of helping others. Grievously, she cannot realize her dream to become a doctor, so she dedicates herself to healing in other ways. Laxmii then adopts another transgender girl, Geeta, and works hard to support her, ultimately purchasing land to build a hospital.

When the powerful politician Girja illegally seizes her land, Laxmii confronts him and his wife, who become the catalysts for a brutal murder that claims Abdul Chacha, his son, and Laxmii’s own land—next door to the house where the living family now resides. Laxmii had already eliminated Girja’s henchmen during earlier possession of Asif, proving she will not be silenced.

Hearing Laxmii’s tale, Asif is moved by the injustice she faced and chooses to help her seek justice. He allows her to possess him once more to complete her revenge. Laxmii kills Girja’s wife and his bodyguards, but Girja manages to seek refuge in a Goddess Durga temple where Laxmii cannot enter. Yet Asif, as a living man, can enter and compels Laxmii to release him before ensnaring Girja. Laxmii returns, delivering the final blow to Girja.

A few months later, Asif fulfills Laxmii’s dream by constructing the hospital on the reclaimed land. The story concludes with the revelation that Laxmii now exists symbiotically within Asif’s body, ready to help him when the need arises.