India’s Northeast, comprising eight states, covers almost eight percent of the country’s land area. But as these states share borders with Tibet, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal and the region’s indigenous people do not fit typical ‘Indian standards,’ they feel alienated in their own country.
As close neighbors of India, we have probably witnessed this racial discrimination against Northeast Indians in real life, and recently in the news and media as well.
Writer/director Anubhav Sinha yet again takes pressing social issues to mainstream Bollywood with his latest film “Anek”—which shows life, conflict and violence in Northeast India, albeit from an outsider’s viewpoint.
Aman (Ayushmann Khurrana) is an undercover agent who goes by the alias Joshua. He is in the Northeast in a covert operation to bring Tiger Sangha (Loitongbam Dorendra), the top rebel leader of the region, to the negotiation table.
The problem for Aman and his boss Abrar Butt (Manoj Pahwa) is that there is another rebel group called Johnson that has been winning over people. Not coincidentally though, Aman initially planted Johnson in the region to challenge Tiger’s authority.
Now a whole different group is using the name and Aman has no idea who is leading it. There follows a series of power-play and politics that shed light into the actual situation in the Northeast.
To blend in with the locals and help his espionage, Aman befriends Adio (Andrea Kevichusa), the daughter of a school teacher (Mipham Otsal) and an aspiring boxer who wants to represent India. Her father is against her becoming an Indian sportsperson and is himself involved with an underground rebel group.
Aman’s relationship with Adio also complicates the movie’s plot. But those complications are only a small part of the conflicts the film highlights. A powerful rebel leader who has been fighting for secession for decades suddenly finds himself losing power. A skillful and deserving boxer is stripped off an opportunity to represent her country as “she doesn’t look like an Indian.” A mother struggles to save her teenage son from joining a rebel group. A teenager is forced by circumstances to join a rebel group. A ruthless agent suddenly starts having feelings for the people he has to betray.
There are multiple conflicts and complications in the film but all of them point to one major problem—the alienation of people based on their looks and culture. Unlike Bollywood mainstreams in the past, the filmmakers of Anek do not decide on what is right or wrong. They just lay out a series of hypothetical situations and let the audience decide for themselves.
With hard-hitting dialogues based more on ground reality and less on patriotic jingoism, Anek explores gray areas in politics and bureaucracy. Yes, it takes an outsider to the Northeast and puts him in a powerful position. But I don’t believe Aman’s character in the film has the traits of a savior. He too finds himself lost. Of course there are parts where the filmmakers have tried to appease the larger Indian audience with popular cinematic tropes, but wherever possible they have toned down the heroism to highlight the underlying issues.
Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead role is average. Had it not been for the film’s strong script and storyline, the experienced actor would have been a misfit. If “trying too hard” could be used to describe an actor, I think Khurrana would fit it perfectly. As for Manoj Pahwah and the rest of the Bollywood cast, they put on a good show befitting the script.
The Northeastern actors, mostly new to me, just blend in with the film’s storyline. There is nothing striking about them but none of them looks out of place either. I think this is what acting is all about. Not overpowering your co-actors but still getting noticed.
Who should watch it?
Although Anek is categorized as an action-thriller, it’s more of a drama. But it is intense. And people who love watching a combination of good writing, direction and acting will definitely enjoy Anek.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Action/drama
Actors: Ayushmann Khurrana, Andrea Kevichusa
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Run time: 2hrs 27mins
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