Axone: Film Review

 

by Sarah Grace Yadav

Axone, pronounced as ‘Akhuni’ is a 2020 Indian Comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Kharkonogar.  Food is the central plot of this movie, the film follows Northeastern Indian migrants in New Delhi, in their attempt to organise a wedding party for one of their friends. The traditional Axone wedding stew turns out to be extremely pungent with local herbs, the friends remain determined to prepare the dish. The movie focuses on the cultural differences, biases and the overarching pressure of being migrants in an unwelcoming city. The themes are mostly of discrimination, alienation and wanting acceptance within their culture. The issue is treated mostly in an organic, sensitive and comfortable way. The Axone in a sense becomes a metaphor for the characters’ identity.

The movie, “A recipe for disaster”, comes across to be extremely satirical and sardonic, however, is able to deal with the issues of migrants with a humorous take. Various struggles of the migrants are showcased, ranging from food, desires, individual agencies, rights and vulnerabilities. The portrayal of racism is extremely well represented; it not only represents the explicit but the implicit and hidden as well. It may not directly be tackling the issue but is certainly a new one in Bollywood cinema.

The audience is able to relate to the characters, life in suburban Delhi with humour and themes of friendship through food.  It shows how these 5-6 friends stick close to each other and try everything to make their friend’s wedding day a memorable one. The movie shows the struggles faced by people from the Northeast, racism, eve teasing and physical harassment being some of them. The director also very vividly displays mental health issues, ranging from panic attacks to long term trauma and stress caused due to racism in varying forms. The film premiered at The London Film Festival on 2nd October 2019, rated 7/10 by IMDB and 4/5 by Times Of India Axone is a must watch.

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