| Aamis | |
| Director: | Bhaskar Hazarika |
| Producer: | Poonam Deol Shyam Bora |
| Starring: | Lima Das Arghadeep Baruah |
| Music: | Quan Bay |
| Cinematography: | Riju Das |
| Editing: | Shweta Rai Chamling |
| Studio: | Signum Productions, Metanormal, Wishberry Films |
| Runtime: | 108 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Assamese |
Aamis (English: Ravening) is a 2019 Indian Assamese-language romantic horror film written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika. The film stars debutantes Lima Das and Arghadeep Baruah in the lead, supported by Neetali Das, Sagar Saurabh, and Manash K Das.
Aamis received its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival where it was nominated in five categories in the festival's "International Narrative" section.[1] The film was released in India on 22 November 2019.[2] [3] [4]
Sumon is a PhD student who researches meat eating habits of people in northeastern India, and cooks various meat dishes for his friends as a hobby. Nirmali is a doctor who feels unsatisfied with her marriage, and constantly covers up for her friend Jumi who is having an extramarital affair. The two meet when she has to treat Sumon's friend for indigestion, and form an acquaintance over an interest in food. Sumon cooks meat dishes for Nirmali, and takes her to various food places as their friendship progresses. Soon, he starts obsessing over her, to the detriment of his career. Nirmali's marriage worsens, and she spends more time with Sumon, but does not reciprocate his feelings.
As his obsession gets out of hand, Sumon approaches his friend Elias, a vet, to cut out a part of his flesh for research. In truth, he plans to cook his flesh and serve it to Nirmali, as a way to make their bond stronger. Nirmali eats the dish, assuming it to be something else, and enjoys it more than anything she has ever tasted. When Sumon reveals what it really was, she is disgusted at first, but soon begins craving human flesh.
Their relationship takes a horrifying twist, as they feed each other their flesh in turns. Nirmali's addiction intensifies, and she craves a large portion of human flesh to satiate her hunger for good. To help her, Sumon kills a rickshaw driver but is caught in the act. The police discover his connection to Nirmali through his phone and apprehend her as well. Their arrest and revelation as cannibals causes a sensation. At the police station, Sumon and Nirmali hold hands as they are presented in front of the media with their faces covered.
Deborah Young for The Hollywood Reporter wrote "One would have liked the story to end on some unexpected note of unfettered imagination in keeping with the defiant spirit of what has gone before. The moralistic ending really takes it down a notch."[5] Anannya Baruah for HuffPost wrote "Meat isn’t just Nirmali and Sumon’s means of sublimating their desire and feeling better about not committing adultery; it has always been the object of caste, religious and regional discrimination—a rationalisation for the violent dehumanisation of certain bodies."[6] Allan Hunter for Screen Daily saw an echo of The Lunchbox movie and wrote "The delicate, decorous nature of the relationship is sweetly captured. Hazarika encourages our investment in the couple and how they might engineer a future together. Affection is expressed in shy smiles and lingering glances. Arghadeep is particularly good at conveying the doe-eyed devotion of Sumon. There is an echo of The Lunchbox in a film that might, initially at least, beguile food lovers and incurable romantics alike."[7]
A critic from Hindustan Times wrote "A Serbian Film, Aamis is exactly what you get when you suffocate unsuspecting people under systems of oppression."[8] Deccan Chronicle wrote "The film devotes a lot of time to cooking, eating, chatting, texting, and the screenplay, full of dialogue and detailed cooking and eating scenes, delivers it all with a beaming smile and a powerful comment on the politics of food."[9] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express praised the director Hazarika and wrote "Not for the faint-hearted or squeamish, Aamis is an unusual, brilliant film, and Hazarika one of India’s most gifted filmmakers."[10] News18 wrote "There is a lot of meat eating; the food shots are lovingly composed. The film suggests that just like we all have different tastes and appetites when it comes to food, we also have varied moral palates and desires."[11]
The Wire wrote “The assertions that ‘love by itself is enough’ or ‘love solves everything’ seem disconnected from the larger truth: that love can also be evil, that love – or say, obsession – can cross a line, too."[12] A critic from The Quint wrote "In a film where every frame is so thoughtfully done, the climax was a dampener. But there’s redemption in the final shot where both Sumon and Nirmali touch each other for the first time."[13] Ishrat Jahan Holy for The Business Standard wrote "Aamis is a bold genius of Bhaskar Hazarika and it relies on its slow revelations. As the film progresses, it gently comes out from its 'The Lunchbox'-esque atmosphere and takes the darkest possible turn."[14]
Best Director - Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF)