‘Axone’ will always be special for model-actress Lin Laishram as she takes a giant leap towards mainstream cinema. A film that brings forward the north eastern India’s sensibilities with a cast and crew that is mainly from that part of the country, Lin hopes it brings some amount of awareness towards her community.

‘Axone’ will always be special for model-actress Lin Laishram as she takes a giant leap towards mainstream cinema. A film that brings forward the north eastern India’s sensibilities with a cast and crew that is mainly from that part of the country, Lin hopes it brings some amount of awareness towards her community. Speaking to WION on her Netflix film, Lin Laishram pointed out Bollywood’s biasness against stories from the north eastern part of India and why we need more such films so that there is a fair representation of her community which helps to limit racism against people with “mongoloid features”. With a lot of sentimental value attached to ‘Axone’, Lin Laishram said, “It's not just a film for me because I come from that place, from Manipur. Till date, Bollywood has not picked up any stories, any project with full cast and team from the north eastern states of India. The mainland people have to know about us. We have to know more about mainland India. Interactions between states and cultural exchange is required. There have been no female actors from Manipur before me who have come out and been part of Bollywood. A movie like this will help us on several fronts -- help the rest of India to understand our culture and what we go through when we come out of our states.” View this post on Instagram I would like to thank everyone who has watched the film and written such beautiful, heartfelt messages and shared their personal experiences of discrimination and racism; I am glad that I could represent a part of what we go through everyday when we choose to live out of our states. This movie is very close to my heart and I have lot of sentiments attached to it. . . My heart is full of love and gratitude right now. . I am reading all the messages, DM's, emails, whatsapps and comments. Thank you everyone for taking out the time to write and appreciate my performance and the film. For those who haven't watched the film, it is streaming on @netflix_in. Please do watch it. #axonethefilm A post shared by Lin Laishram (@linlaishram) on Jun 12, 2020 at 11:41pm PDT × Where does this difference arise from? “It comes from the foundation. We have ignored that part of the country completely. In none of the Indian textbooks there is much to study about NE states. We were just told that there are 7 sisters. I think we need to start from there, from our elementary education system. The government has to evolve, adapt these changes, and evolve and inculcate these cultures into textbooks. We have to start young for the next generation to understand.” “Our NE states are disconnected from the mainland. They are cut off because of distance, food habits, how we look, our languages and more. There is a lack of awareness and we are called Chinese because of our mongoloid features. If the kids are taught from the beginning about that part of India which is close to east asian countries, then things will get better,” added Lin. View this post on Instagram My stinky beans ❤️ @sayanigupta @mi.su0 @asenlaaa 2days to go 😍😍😍 @yoodleefilms . . . Axone releasing on 12th June on Netflix. A post shared by Lin Laishram (@linlaishram) on Jun 9, 2020 at 10:52pm PDT × One would think that actors and models from her social status would be safe from racist attacks but alas, Lin narrated a very recent episode that shook her. She said, “We face racism. Each of us who have come out in the mainland, have all faced racism in one manner or the other. It has only increased, unfortunately, during the lockdown. I, very recently, experienced one on February 9 as I dropped my parents at the airport and was coming back in the morning. They had an early flight. As I got off the taxi, two boys walked past me, one was a middle-aged man. He said ‘coronavirus’ a couple of times looking at me. I could feel he was trying to communicate something with me. Coronavirus wasn’t such a big deal back then so I couldn’t connect. Only when I spoke to a friend that evening and I mentioned the incident, she said they were being racist towards me, referring to me as the virus.” “There have been countless episodes of racism during the pandemic with people from the NE being barred from entering grocery stores at multiple places. A girl was spat on Delhi street. PG residents students in Calcutta were thrown out and so on. We are still fighting a silent battle. With a film like Axone, I hope there will be more awareness about our people. Not that it will change the entire country but they will get a better sense of it,” added Lin hopeful for the future. Does she succumb to racist attacks? Lin pointed out, “You have to be rational at some point, not think from the heart. You are here to do something, to achieve something. If I succumb to every hate comment or troll/ bully then I won't be able to grow. I have learned to adapt, to accept, to put a brave face and be normal.” She explained, “There are two versions of racism -- if an illiterate person says this who doesn't have an understanding of our people, our culture, I don't get upset. Because I understand they don't have the privilege to study. They don't know what the Indian map looks like. But if someone has done graduation, they are privileged and educated and when they still don't know about NE states then that is shameful. They had privilege to learn, how come they didn't learn geography? These are two reasons I have given myself.” With the world rising together against racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death in the US, Lin stressed that racism is part of world culture. It's a deep-rooted phenomena and has been there forever but “every life matters. African-American community has been going through this for decades. It's a very deep rooted history. They have voiced it. I lived in America for 4 years and have seen it first hand.” She does, however, feel upset at the lack of voice for her people by the same Bollywood folks who took to social media to chant ‘Black Lives Matter’. “Nobody came forward to talk about a girl being spat in broad daylight or when they were denied grocery because they looked ‘Chinese’ during coronavirus. I didn't see any trending on Facebook, or any posts on social media because maybe it wasn't worth trending,” said Lin who feels racism has to be dealt at its roots and we should look at it as a wholesome issue rather than region-specific debate.

'Axone' actress Lin Laishram: Bollywood doesn't pick stories from north east India

At the onset, filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor's film 'Axone' is about a group of friends trying to cook a cherished traditional north-eastern dish as a wedding present for a friend, but Kharkongor's film delves deeper and addresses prejudices that the community faces in any big city of India.

Span over a day in Delhi's Humayupur area- a popular ghetto for northeast immigrants in Delhi- the story is of Upasana(Sayani Gupta) and Chanbi (Lin Laishram) wanting to cook Pork Akhuni or Axone for their roommate Minam who is to get married later at night.

<img alt="A" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="54075cf1-3861-4c24-9f25-a29bf1dea174" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%2891%29_2.jpg" />

The two girls procure 3 kgs of Pork and Axone paste- which is basically fermented soya bean paste at the crack of dawn. The challenge though is to cook the dish at their home with neighbours and landlords (Dolly Ahluwalia and Vinay Pathak) around. The paste has a pungent smell and cooking it will raise alarm and objection from everyone around. 
 
The North-Eastern states have grossly been misrepresented in Bollywood for years. The only prominent face, Danny Denzongpa has played the quintessential bad guy in many of his popular films. In reality, the community has been called names, is often singled out in cities like Delhi and Bengaluru. In 'Axone' the food serves as a metaphor to how segregated the community feels in cities. 
 
Upasana, Chanbi along with their friend Zorem want to time their cooking in such a way that there are fewer people in the building and hence no objection. But fate has other plans as the group has to keep shifting their party venue and make do with makeshift kitchens to cook the coveted dish.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jAW1U8PLwY0" width="560"></iframe> 
 
Amid chaos and confusion, the story deftly highlights the everyday racism, misogyny that these group of friends face from locals- who unable to understand them and accept them are quick to label them. 
 
Shot on actual locations of Delhi, the film shows a very different side of the capital- that has cramped bylanes, narrow alleys, and localities bustling with people, cars, and bikes. It's a Delhi that most living outside would not have seen in films, devoid of the famous monuments. It's a Delhi, where hoards of students from states of the northeast come and inhabit and make it their home year after year. 
 
The film has a few popular mainstream faces like Sayani Gupta, who plays Nepali girl Upasana, Dolly Ahluwalia as the tyrant landlady and Vinay Pathak as her son-in-law. But the rest of the cast comprises of relatively new faces- actors from various states of the northeast which is refreshing to see in a Hinglish film. You may recall Tenzin Dalha who plays Zorem from Netflix film 'Guilty' and Lin Laishram from 'Mary Kom'.

<img alt="a" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="dd14ea71-929b-4adf-abcc-f0590a27213b" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%2892%29_0.jpg" /> 
 
The beauty of 'Axone' is that it never gets preachy and shows how society is without taking any sides. If there are prejudiced north Indian neighbors in the colony making life difficult for the friends, there is also an over-friendly, over-enthusiastic Shiv (Rohan Joshi), the landlord's grandson who is more than willing to help them out just to be a part of the gang. It quietly highlights the fact that often the people from the north-east are unwilling to interact with anyone else outside their community- they too segregate in terms of country and region (A Nepali is not welcomed initially). In a poignant scene near the climax, Chanbi can be seen telling her boyfriend that not all are bad, and that how he has never made an effort to interact with anyone outside his community. 
 
Pitched as the first Hindi film about the north-east community- the film beautifully handles issues as serious as racism in a slice of life comedy. At 1 hour 40 minutes, the film has so much to offer. Lessons on love, acceptance, friendship and gives you a sneak peek into the lives of the people who are often left on the sideline in mainstream Bollywood. 
The film is streaming on Netflix. Go and watch it and fill your heart with love and warmth.

At the onset, filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor's film 'Axone' is about a group of friends trying to cook a cherished traditional north-eastern dish as a wedding present for a friend, but Kharkongor's film delves deeper and addresses prejudices that the community faces in any big city of India.

At the onset, filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor's film 'Axone' is about a group of friends trying to cook a cherished traditional north-eastern dish as a wedding present for a friend, but Kharkongor's film delves deeper and addresses prejudices that the community faces in any big city of India. Span over a day in Delhi's Humayupur area- a popular ghetto for northeast immigrants in Delhi- the story is of Upasana(Sayani Gupta) and Chanbi (Lin Laishram) wanting to cook Pork Akhuni or Axone for their roommate Minam who is to get married later at night. The two girls procure 3 kgs of Pork and Axone paste- which is basically fermented soya bean paste at the crack of dawn. The challenge though is to cook the dish at their home with neighbours and landlords (Dolly Ahluwalia and Vinay Pathak) around. The paste has a pungent smell and cooking it will raise alarm and objection from everyone around. The North-Eastern states have grossly been misrepresented in Bollywood for years. The only prominent face, Danny Denzongpa has played the quintessential bad guy in many of his popular films. In reality, the community has been called names, is often singled out in cities like Delhi and Bengaluru. In 'Axone' the food serves as a metaphor to how segregated the community feels in cities. Upasana, Chanbi along with their friend Zorem want to time their cooking in such a way that there are fewer people in the building and hence no objection. But fate has other plans as the group has to keep shifting their party venue and make do with makeshift kitchens to cook the coveted dish. Amid chaos and confusion, the story deftly highlights the everyday racism, misogyny that these group of friends face from locals- who unable to understand them and accept them are quick to label them. Shot on actual locations of Delhi, the film shows a very different side of the capital- that has cramped bylanes, narrow alleys, and localities bustling with people, cars, and bikes. It's a Delhi that most living outside would not have seen in films, devoid of the famous monuments. It's a Delhi, where hoards of students from states of the northeast come and inhabit and make it their home year after year. The film has a few popular mainstream faces like Sayani Gupta, who plays Nepali girl Upasana, Dolly Ahluwalia as the tyrant landlady and Vinay Pathak as her son-in-law. But the rest of the cast comprises of relatively new faces- actors from various states of the northeast which is refreshing to see in a Hinglish film. You may recall Tenzin Dalha who plays Zorem from Netflix film 'Guilty' and Lin Laishram from 'Mary Kom'. The beauty of 'Axone' is that it never gets preachy and shows how society is without taking any sides. If there are prejudiced north Indian neighbors in the colony making life difficult for the friends, there is also an over-friendly, over-enthusiastic Shiv (Rohan Joshi), the landlord's grandson who is more than willing to help them out just to be a part of the gang. It quietly highlights the fact that often the people from the north-east are unwilling to interact with anyone else outside their community- they too segregate in terms of country and region (A Nepali is not welcomed initially). In a poignant scene near the climax, Chanbi can be seen telling her boyfriend that not all are bad, and that how he has never made an effort to interact with anyone outside his community. Pitched as the first Hindi film about the north-east community- the film beautifully handles issues as serious as racism in a slice of life comedy. At 1 hour 40 minutes, the film has so much to offer. Lessons on love, acceptance, friendship and gives you a sneak peek into the lives of the people who are often left on the sideline in mainstream Bollywood. The film is streaming on Netflix. Go and watch it and fill your heart with love and warmth.

'Axone' review: A delicious story of friendship, love and acceptance

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'Axone' actress Lin Laishram: Bollywood doesn't pick stories from north east India

'Axone' review: A delicious story of friendship, love and acceptance