Aamis (English: Ravening) is a 2019 Indian Assamese-language romantichorror film written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika. The film explores taboo themes through an unconventional love story centered around food, obsession, and the macabre. The project emerged from Hazarika’s fascination with the intersection of human desires and societal norms, particularly the concept of food as a medium for intimacy and transgression.
The film was produced under the banner of Signum Productions, with Shyam Bora serving as the producer. Shot on location in Assam, the production sought to authentically capture the region’s cultural and culinary ethos. Featuring Lima Das and Arghadeep Baruah in lead roles, Aamis benefited from Hazarika’s distinctive narrative approach, which blends folklore, realism, and psychological horror.
The development process was marked by meticulous research into Assamese cuisine, which plays a pivotal role in the narrative. The team collaborated closely with local chefs and cultural historians to ensure accuracy. 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]
Plot
Sumon is a Ph.D 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 that 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.
Themes
Forbidden Desire and Obsession
At its core, Aamis is a tale of forbidden love that transcends conventional boundaries. The relationship between Nirmali, a middle-aged pediatrician, and Sumon, a young doctoral student researching meat-eating practices in Northeast India, starts as a harmless exploration of culinary pleasures. However, their shared passion for food gradually morphs into an intense and obsessive bond. The film explores how unfulfilled emotional needs can lead to unhealthy dependencies, with food becoming a conduit for their suppressed desires. Hazarika uses this unusual relationship to question the societal norms that dictate acceptable forms of love and intimacy. As their connection deepens, their bond moves into darker and more dangerous territory, symbolizing how obsession can devour the very individuals it consumes.
Food as a Metaphor for Intimacy
In Aamis, food is not merely sustenance; it becomes a powerful metaphor for connection, love, and ultimately, transgression. The rituals of preparing, sharing, and consuming exotic meats form the foundation of Nirmali and Sumon’s relationship. Through these acts, the film explores how food can serve as a substitute for physical intimacy, offering a sense of closeness and understanding that societal norms otherwise restrict. This theme is amplified as the film progresses, with food transforming into a medium through which the characters express their innermost desires. The act of eating becomes increasingly eroticized, challenging the audience to confront their own perceptions of consumption, both literal and metaphorical.
Tradition and Modernity
Set against the backdrop of contemporary Assam, Aamis subtly highlights the tension between traditional cultural values and modern individual desires. Sumon’s academic research into traditional meat-eating practices contrasts with Nirmali’s adherence to societal expectations as a married woman. This juxtaposition underscores the struggle between preserving cultural identity and embracing personal freedom. The film also sheds light on how modern relationships are increasingly complicated by evolving social dynamics, where traditional roles and expectations often clash with individual aspirations.
Loneliness and Emotional Repression
Both Nirmali and Sumon are portrayed as emotionally isolated individuals. Nirmali, trapped in a loveless and mundane marriage, seeks an outlet for her repressed feelings. Sumon, on the other hand, is a young man grappling with his unconventional passion for meat research and a longing for deeper connection. Their shared experiences around food fill the emotional voids in their lives, offering a fleeting sense of belonging and understanding. The film illustrates how loneliness and the fear of societal judgment can lead individuals to seek solace in unexpected and often dangerous places. Through its characters, Aamis portrays the psychological toll of emotional repression and the human need for genuine connection.
Cast
Lima Das as Nirmali Saikia
Arghadeep Baruah as Sumon
Neetali Das as Jumi
Sagar Saurabh as Elias Ahmad
Manash K Das as Dilip
Utkal Hazowari as Inspector
Chandan Bhuyan as Bora
Samarjyoti Sarkar as Rickshaw puller
Siddharth Boro as Eddie
Momee Borah as Mina
Jishnu Kashyap as Pikoo
Uddipta K Bhattacharya as Sumon's Friend
Production
Fresh off of his success from his directorial debut, Kothanodi (2015), Bhaskar Hazarika knew his next project would be tough to pitch.[5] Due to the taboo nature of the subject material, Hazarika sought out a tactful approach to address the subject matter tastefully and, more importantly, without infringing on censorship protocol. In April 2024, he addressed this directly saying, "Now, the Censor Board can cut scenes, but not ideas."[5] He furthers that this explains much of the "pastoral look" not only remedies this, but allows the audience space for their own perception of the self proclaimed "radical" themes and plot.
When asked how the concept for the film developed, Hazarika cites the idea stemming from, "watching people." More specifically, a video of people eating a non-vegetarian meal. This clip sparked a concept for what he refers to as, "not a dark love story but a sad one...a Romeo and Juliet kind of love story."[6]
With the intention of a love story that covers the themes of "repression, addiction, and the consequences of committing crimes," [6] Hazarika reduces the film to its simplest form as: "obsessive consumption." The film attempts to explore the many layers of what is taboo and why.
In many ways, Hazarika has attempted to shift away from Bollywood tradition, relishing in the flexibility of independent film. With a deliberate attempt to "unlearn" the "mainstream" process, Hazarika prefers the more honed audience he can speak to more directly.[5] During casting, Hazarika opted to cast unknown actors due to the film's limited budget. However, lead actress Lima Das is a well known sattirya dancer and doctor,[7] though this was her acting debut. Hazarika explains this was intended contributed to the realistic feel curated on screen.[5]
There are distinct similarities between Hazarika's debut, Kothanodi (2015), and Aamis (2019) stemming largely from the strange and gritty horror elements, but the director himself notes a stark difference: whereas Kothanodi was a "sledgehammer – elemental and raw, Aamis is all about feel."[8] This was achieved through the juxtaposition of utilizing genre conventions all the while they are subverted.
When asked about tangible inspiration for the film, Hazarika cited Japanese horror movies Onibaba and Kwaidan.[9] He furthers, "overall, I try to seek aesthetic inspiration from South East Asia and the Far East for my Assamese content, because I feel we are more culturally analogous to those regions rather than to the pan-Indian mainstream.”
Reception
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."[10] 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."[11] 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."[12]
A critic from Hindustan Times wrote "A Serbian Film, Aamis is exactly what you get when you suffocate unsuspecting people under systems of oppression."[13]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."[14]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."[15]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."[16]
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."[17] 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."[18] 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."[19]
Awards
Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF): Best Director (Bhaskar Hazarika) and Best Female Actor (Lima Das).
Sailadhar Baruah Memorial Film Awards: Best Actor---female (Lima Das), Best Music (Quan Bay), Best Sound Design (Gautam Nair)
Assam State Fim Awards 2019: Best Direction, Best Music, Best Audiography, Best Screenplay, Best Actress.
