Written and directed by S. Shakthidharan, “The Laugh of Lakshmi” is told in English and Tamil and features Bharathanatyam (classical Indian dance) and Carnatic music. Shakthi's epic Sri Lankan-Australian play “Counting and Cracking” won 7 Helpmann Awards including Best New Australian Work in 2019 while "The Jungle and the Sea" won 4 Sydney Theatre Awards in 2023, including Best Mainstage Work. The film is produced by John Maynard and Vivek Rangachari.
Shakthi describes "The Laugh of Lakshmi" as a story of a mother and a son separated by war. The mother, a celebrated classical Indian dancer, sends her young son, also a brilliant dancer, to the care of her brother in Sydney. Despite twenty-five years of separation and vastly different communities; her's a Tamil women farming co-operative and IDP camps; and his in corporate Australia with a forbidden love; each slowly finds the courage to offer themselves to each other. Mother and son discover before it’s too late, that there is greater strength in being vulnerable and compassionate than being successful.
Community Partner - Palmera
Developed with Support from Screen Australia.