Assamese film Aakuti heads to New York Indian Film Festival 2026

Snigdha P Roy’s Assamese debut feature Aakuti (Longing) follows the emotional journey of eight-year-old Lakhi as she copes with the loss of her mother. The film has been selected for the competition section at the New York Indian Film Festival 2026, earning nominations for Best Debut Film and Best Child Actor (Kavisha Mahanta). It also marks Snigdha’s debut as a writer-director.

Born and raised in Guwahati and now based in Mumbai, Snigdha, who also works as an editor, says, “I had always decided that when I made my first film, it would be in Assamese. Aakuti was initially conceived as a short, but as I developed it, I realised it had the scope to become a feature.”