'Axone' (2020) is a dramedy about a group of Northeasterners trying to sneakily cook a Naga specialty for their friend’s wedding in Delhi. The main ingredient is fermented soyabean, which has a strong smell likely to provoke the ire of neighbours unfamiliar with this strange food.
Lin Laishram does a great job as the strong, stoic lead who bristles underneath. Vinay Pathak and Dolly Ahluwalia put in reliably strong performances as the overbearing landlords. Sayani Gupta is reasonably good, but overdoes the accent and in so doing sticks out among the other actors who are actually from the Northeast. The supporting cast puts in uneven performances, especially the sensitive musician who hams through a crucial role. The revelation here is Rohan Joshi playing Shiv—their one “Indian” ally—who incarnates the hyperactivity, naive ignorance yet loveability of the character superbly. His comedic timing is excellent, having the audience laughing right through the end credits. Special mention must be made for the music and background score, which weave in flavours of the Northeast for a zany, modern score that rhythms the story.
The film starts out as a comedy, and as the proceedings go on we witness the acts of discrimination—small and large—that people who look different are made to face on a daily basis. We laugh with the smaller taunts, but director Nicholas Kharkongor subtly underlines how this “garden-variety” racism can go out of hand, turning violent and misogynistic. Yet, he prevents the film from getting too dark or preachy—showing us how there is a hierarchy even among Northeasterners, who can look down upon Nepalis, some North Indians and can’t even bother to pronounce their African neighbours’ names right. The convoluted plot has glaring loopholes and the uneven performances do dampen things considerably but 'Axone' is a timely and important film about tolerating, if not loving, each other in extremely divided times.
Genre: Comedy/Slice of life
Language: Hindi/English Runtime: 49 min Year of release: 2020 Streaming platform: Netflix
Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.
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