Axone pronounced as ’Akhuni’ is a light slaying movie projecting the regular issues of people from the northeast living in other parts of India. We have hardly seen movies that come across the lives of northeastern people as they are considered not so important to bring up their lives to the rest of the world. Thanks to the OTT platform we now find directors and writers coming up with new unique subjects and highlighting the major social issues of the country. Now, it’s our duty as an audience to accept these kinds of movies and gives it’s due. We often group people from the seven sisters’ land as northeastern not even knowing there are seven different states in the northeast. We just confine them all in one group as aliens to India even though they share their home in the same country. This movie had a perfect platform to speak out loud on issues faced by the people from the northeast, though I feel it has just partially made its point.
Axone Cast & Crew
Actors: Sayani Gupta, Lin Laishram, Tenzin Dalha, Merenla Imsong, Rohan Joshi, Vinay Pathak, Dolly Ahluwalia
Director: Nicholas Kharkongor
Producer: Siddhart Anand Kumar
Rating: 4
Platform: Netflix
All About Axone
The movie starts with a group of friends secretly going to a dingy place which will make you think they are looking for some real ”stuff” but actually for raw pork meat and ’akhuni’. Akhuni is fermented soya bean which is famously used in northeastern cuisine for its distinctive flavor and smell. It has a strong smell and adds bitter smoky taste to the pork dish. Nicholas Kharkongor the director of Axone, who is from both Nagaland and Manipur presented the tale of the northeastern people living in big cities of India in a very light-hearted way.
Why the name Axone?
The entire movie is centered on the preparation of the traditional dish of northeast using Axone, which has a strong aroma much loved by the northeastern but very much unfamiliar and unpleasant for non-northeastern people. No matter how much we call India to be a diverse land we do believe in groupism. It’s very common even in offices, you will find regional groups hanging out together south Indians having one group, Bengalis in one group, north Indians in one. So, now who is to be blamed for this the south Indians not mingling with north Indians or the Bengalis not welcoming south Indians, this is what exactly the movie portrays.
Tale of Friendship
It all starts with a kind of mission of preparing the authentic northeastern dish using axone as a wedding day surprise plan for one of their friends just to make her feel at home. But this came with a bundle of toils in the busty neighborhood of Delhi. But this group of northeastern friends grapple their best to make their friend D-day special
Nicholas Kharkongor has brought up the struggles of the northeastern people to survive in the other parts of the country, who do not even have the right to cook their traditional food in their own country. He presented this story in a very light-hearted way, with fun and humor infused into the darker shadows of racism.
The entire movie is set within the span of one day, and with the day passing by it brings up the not so minor issues of the minorities. In one scene it shows, how a northeastern woman is objectified and lusted with sexist comments on the street. To add on to that, considering the northeastern to be the outsider and they do not hold any right to voice up for wrong can be slapped for standing up for themselves on a busy street with no one else to object.
It has also brought up the story of Nido Taniam, from Arunachal Pradesh who was killed by a mob in South Delhi just because of his hair color and facial features which created rage against racism and prejudice across the northeastern community. This character was pulled off as Bendang who had a similar story of being attacked by a group of Delhi goons just because his hair color and face were not so Indian according to them. In the movie, Bendang was alive but as good as dead struggling with his own self to overcome the fear of negligence, disrespect, and humiliation.
The Lighter And Brighter Part Of Axone
The lighter part of the movie was the process of preparing axone. The strict Punjabi landlord played by Dolly Ahluwalia, with her stern presence and ruling attitude over the lives of people around her added a punch to the tale. Adding to this light character was Vinay Pathak who was the son-in-law of the landlord Dolly Ahluwalia, their constant fights and terrific comic timing to pull each other back is just the perfect jovial proportion the movie needed.
The next lively character was Shiv, who was the grandson of the landlord and always on his toe to help his northeastern renters. He’s another fantasy that drives him to mingle with the northeastern group is to have a northeastern girlfriend. This again brings up another aspect of the society of having a northeastern girlfriend is a western status.
Upasana played by Sayani Gupta, a Nepali girl who is not so Mongolian looking but is core northeastern, makes it tough for others to believe her origin again bringing up another aspect of how North Easterns are grouped based on their facial features. This is not just for non-northeastern but also the northeastern themselves find it difficult to accept someone who doesn’t look like them. As in Upasana’s case, some of her friends were not ready to accept her in their group because of her looks. Sayani Gupta’s acting and the dialect she adapted was tremendous. It would be really hard to not get convinced of Sayani as a Nepali girl. Her simple innocence nature of not expecting much and giving it all reflects the purity of her character.
The movie properly showcases the difficulties faced by the northeastern groups just to cook their favorite meal. First, they had to face the rage from the neighborhood then they moved to a community hall where they were again thrown out, finally they somehow managed it by cooking on the terrace.
What the movie did not do was revolting back and questioning the people. They accepted the fact this how they will be treated, as Chanbi decided to go back home with Bendang as they were tired of building their place in the city. Also, it is impossible for them to convince their neighbors to let them have their own meal and celebrate in their own way. Instead, they had to run from places to places just to find a hideout for their celebration. Might be this is what Nicholas simply wanted the world to see the reality of north Easterns in their home country. They are as voiceless as unheard and it’s way harder to establish themselves in other cities so they often tend to quit and go back home. He also brought up how few north Easterns are so confined and protective they tend to stay away from other people and be in their own group of the comfort zone.
My favorite scene in the movie was the wedding scene of Minam where all her friends who were from different parts of the northeast dressed in their own traditional attire to celebrate her wedding. This reflected despite their diverse cultures and differences the toughness and indifference of the city binds them together as a family. No matter how rough the situation goes they are all together in this journey.
The movie is a voice against racism from the unheard community to accept them, as they are the same as rest and have equal rights to live freely in all parts of the country.
Also Read: You may also read our article on the latest Netflix release Bulbbul which is surely a must-watch.
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