One year since its release, Axone remains pathbreaking

One year since its release, the relevance of Nicholas Kharkongor's Axone hasn't diminished a bit what with a Punjab YouTuber recently making racist comments against an Arunachal Pradesh legislator.

Axone, which is being streamed on Netflix, depicts how prejudice against Northeastern communities manifests in obvious and subtle ways as their cultural, sartorial and culinary traditions are judged, mocked and misunderstood. In the film, which stars Sayani Gupta, Lin Laishram and Tenzin Dalha, the desire to cook a special pork dish turns into a mini cultural war in the heart of Delhi. 

Speaking about the film, Gupta said that she had connected to the project instantly. "There is so much that remains undiscovered and unexplored about the Northeast. I do believe that slowly we are emerging from a haze of ignorance to learn more about a region that is a beautiful part of our country. Axone is pathbreaking because it has actors from the Northeast who portray experiences that are uniquely theirs. The film has initiated a conversation about inclusion that I hope will lead to more such films and am so glad Yoodlee decided to throw their weight behind the project."

Echoing her sentiments, Siddharth Anand Kumar, the vice-president, films and events, Saregama India Ltd, said, "At Yoodlee, we want to make films that say the unsaid and create a shift in thought and feeling. This was not a niche project for us but a story that deserved to go mainstream and I am glad that it did.  We gave this story the care and the platform it needed to reach a larger audience and today, it is considered an essential film in the Indian cinemascape from a cultural narrative perspective.  We are proud to be first movers and hope to make space for many more trailblazing modern classics."

Interestingly, the film also features a number of actors speaking authentic Northeastern dialects. Laishram said the film has proven that the Northeast doesn't just have amazing food, sporting stars, scenic beauty or great music but also fantastic cinematic and acting talent. "I feel so proud that Nicholas Kharkongor is now considered one of the most important pan-Indian directors," she said.

Kharkongor debuted as a filmmaker with Mantra (2017), before making Axone. Speaking about the project, he said that he took care to ensure that the story of Axone showed its protagonists in all their complexity as they struggle to make a living, seek and find love, and fight to protect themselves and each other from the harshness of a metro that mostly treats them as 'outsiders'. "Representation is important and that is why I wanted to tell a story about characters that cinema has largely passed by. I know that the film has changed perceptions and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. I hope to see more makers and actors from the Northeast in the mainstream," he said.