Axone (2019)
June 16, 2020 10:31 AM - Subscribe

"Axone, pronounced ‘Akhuni’, is a particularly pungent ingredient used in Naga cuisine. In the opening scene of Axone, the film, our protagonists procure some of it to use in a special pork dish that they’re going to prepare for their best friend, who’s getting married. The film spans a single stressful day in the lives of a group of 20-somethings, who’re made to leap over one obstacle after another in their mission to cook the dish. Through the day, they’re forced to deal with bigoted neighbours, an uncooperative gas cylinder and interpersonal drama."

"When their loud Punjabi landlord aunty forbids Chanbi (a Manipuri girl played by Lin Laishram) and her Nepali best friend Upasna (played by Sayani Gupta) from cooking at home, the girls are forced to commandeer cramped kitchens and deserted community halls, consistently at the mercy of others. Old wounds are reopened and new ones are inflicted as Chanbi and Upasna, joined by a well-meaning neighbourhood kid Shiv, go on a race against time to get the job done, pin-balling from one house to the other, and bumping into colourful characters played by actors such as Vinay Pathak and Dolly Ahluwalia. Axone is a small film with big ideas, deftly directed and delicately performed." (Rohan Nahaar, Hindustan Times)

"It is always a good time to watch a movie like Axone, but never a better time than now. As the Black Lives Matter protests spread across the globe, closer home, Axone, directed by Nicholas Kharkongor, shows how insidiously prejudices weave themselves into our everyday lives and conversations. The film presents humiliations – big and small – that people from the Northeast confront daily. “If you ask any Northeasterner about what it’s like to live in Delhi, they will tell you one about the times they tried to cook with an ingredient like axone,” says Kharkongor, 46. Axone (pronounced ‘akhuni’) is fermented soybean paste, commonly used in Nagaland and other parts of the Northeast to give a distinctive umami flavour to food. Like a lot of fermented foods, it has a sharp, strong aroma that, as Kharkongor says, “smells like heaven” to those who’ve grown up eating it. Those who are not used to it, however, are repulsed by it." (Pooja Pillai, The Indian Express)

Axone is streaming on Netflix.
posted by ChuraChura (2 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
This looks like a lot of fun... adding to the Netflix list!
posted by Sheydem-tants at 1:54 PM on June 16, 2020


This is a great movie! I enjoyed it a lot.
posted by dhruva at 9:10 PM on June 20, 2020


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