The film that took Akshun Abhi, all of 24 years, and the team of 7 Rounds to Cannes is based on last year’s Kansas racial killing in which a 51-year-old Navy veteran shot an Indian techie who was enjoying a drink with a friend in a pub.
“Suddenly, this man walked in shouting ‘Get out of my country’ and fired at Srinivas Kuchibhotla. And, just like that, this man — because he was deemed an ‘outsider’ — lost his life,” says Abhi who, despite the passage of time, never stops “getting moved and shocked by a death that was so unnecessary”. This incident is what compelled him to start work on 7 Rounds.
Together with a friend, screenwriter Karthik Menon, this alumnus of New York Film Academy wrote a script that showcases not just the growing fear in the minds of the American people — especially after the travel ban on immigrants from countries including Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya and Chad — about people from a particular community but also the daily struggles and problems of immigrants in the United States.
“We’ve also shown how South Asians, especially Indians, are often mistaken for people from the Middle East or other Muslim countries and hence, become targets for hate crimes,” says Abhi, who has personally faced some situations bordering on racial abuse in real life.
Since his return, his roster has been full of audition calls for “feature tracks for Hollywood productions”. Discussions and meetings have been lined up with some South Indian filmmakers in the US as well, informs Abhi, excitement writ large on his face.
