Sayani Gupta: Racist cases have come out amid coronavirus pandemic

Mumbai, June 6 (IANS): Actress Sayani Gupta will be seen in a film titled “Axone”, based on the issue of racism faced by people of the Northeast. She feels several cases of racism have emerged amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

“There is literally no film that represents northeastern community in mainstream cinema, especially around the age-old racism that they face. Racism is such a burning issue right now — especially after corona, the number of racist cases that have come out, of people harassing Northeastern people,” Sayani shared.

Directed by Nicholas Kharkongor, “Axone” premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and had made its India debut at the Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) last year. The film will now release on Netflix on June 12.

“This script written and directed by Nicholas is extremely poignant and also tremendously funny. It’s a rollercoaster ride of one and half hours and you actually realise how little we in India know about northeastern people,” sayani added.

“Axone” is a bittersweet satire that follows immigrants in Delhi, who are trying to organise a wedding party, but soon everything goes wrong. Sayani plays a 23-year-old Nepali girl from Manipur.