Lakshmi is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language short film written, directed and edited by Sarjun KM, and was produced by I.
He decided to cast Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli after being impressed by her work in Maya (2015), to make a short film which had the protagonist, a lower middle-class girl who faces all the issues as similar to women hailing from middle class.
[5] Sarjun KM initially wanted to include another character whose life is contrast from the protagonist, and later zeroed on his old acquaintance Nandan.
The song had additional lyrics written by Siva Ananth and was sung by Sarjun KM and Sriradha Bharath.
With acclaimed filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Gautham Vasudev Menon praised Sarjun for the direction and making,[3] it received furore after ten days being uploaded on YouTube (from 1 November 2017).
[9] Viewers drew crtiticism against the makers for justifying an extra-marital affair, for equating women empowerment with sexual independence and also trolled the film's lead protagonist Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli and its director Sarjun.
[8] In a supportive note, the chief writer of The Indian Express, Ashameera Aiyyapan stated "The controversy around Lakshmi makes us rethink how we see women on-screen [...] What people fail to understand is that at the end of the day, it is a story.
"[10] She further stated about the concept of Sindhu Bhairavi, Agni Natchathiram, Gopurangal Saivathillai and other movies that had central men characters with extra-marital relationships, which is similar to this film, but also questioned that why it was not criticised.