Axone Analysis

Axone (pronounced Akhoney)

Directed by: Nicholas Kharkongor

Starring: Sayani Gupta, Lin Laishram

Available on Netflix

The plot of the film in itself is so heartwarming and slightly tragic, that a bunch of girls from the North Eastern states in India, gather to secretly throw a wedding party in Delhi for a soon-to-be bride. The timespan of this story is one day; we see their struggle to cook a dish, Axone, which releases a pungent smell while cooking - the bride's favorite dish. This states us about how when it is about things related to the dominant group of people, everyone accepts and celebrates the discomfort - whether it's Holi and Diwali while if it's something related to the minorities - no one seems to co-operate for it. There is a sequence where everyone in the apartment come to them and shout at them that they should not be allowed to stay there - one of them goes out of breath and it visually shows us how they are made to feel and how they find it suffocating. It's heartbreaking to see when the protagonists of a film are fighting for something, which might feel trivial and small to us like how in Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven the entire movie is about a pair of shoes - here they are fighting to cook a dish a throw a small party for the wedding of their friend. The best part is that the house owner's character - who is obviously racist, she is also not judged by the filmmaker. She is presented in a real and honest way and it is for us to feel what we can feel for her - usually such characters are deliberately made to do and say awful things. The music adds so much for the setting of the film - in spite of it being set in Delhi; apart from the plot and the characters the music is what adds to the world of the film. This film doesn't just focus on showing us the world of the film - it has a lot of things happening which makes it so accessible as well. The world is presented through the plot, whether it's the scene where one of the girls is slapped by a stranger, when she goes out of breath, when they are asked to leave from the place where they have started cooking.

The film is shot in the street of Delhi and it feels shockingly authentic, while watching a lot of scenes I was wondering how the background artists could seem that real. I doubt if they shot these scenes in a guirella style; if yes then Nicholas Kharkongor should definitely be a master at it. Anurag Kashyap's guirella scenes can be understood, that how they could've secretly shot it. There is a funny subplot in the film - the guy who is helping these girls is caught by his girlfriend twice on the road with different girls and that girl's character is also fleshed out beautifully. We see this quality in Coen Brother's films where a character which appears for even one scene stands out. The film in spite of its themes about inclusivity, racism and oppresion - it is a slice of life film which is heartwarming and accessible. Sayani Gupta was so authentic as her character in this film, also the film is shot in a way that the chaos is captured properly and all of it adds to the realism.