Logline
A government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a low-caste girl is murdered, Santosh is pulled into the investigation by charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.
Synopsis
An auto-wallah drops off a lone woman at a crumbling police station. 3 months ago Santosh was a housewife. When her police officer husband was murdered, and suddenly a burden to family and in-laws alike, a government policy entitling her to ‘appointment on compassionate grounds’ offers a way out. She starts work as a constable, her everyday life suddenly saturated with violence. When a girl is found murdered in a nearby village, charismatic female inspector Sharma takes charge, pledging justice and retribution. For Santosh, she’s a woman respected, even feared. Sharma takes her under her wing. Boosted by Sharma’s faith and her own desire for justice, Santosh grows in confidence, confronts her fear and tracks down the suspected killer, killing him. Santosh begins to be wracked with guilt and worries they made a mistake. She sets out on her own private investigations. Slowly she surfaces from Sharma’s spell, seeing clearly now the nexus protecting mentor’s place within it. Fear and loyalty to Sharma paralyse Santosh but somehow she must redeem herself for Saleem’s death. But with the hope of justice in Meerapur such a distant possibility, it is unclear how she can make anything right again.
Director
SANTOSH marks the feature-film debut of writer-director Sandhya Suri.
Following a degree in Mathematics, Sandhya spent time teaching abroad before following her passion for film by enrolling in the National Film and television School in the UK on a scholarship to study documentary filmmaking.
Her debut feature documentary, I FOR INDIA (2005) centred around her father’s recordings of their family life in the UK, and later in India. The recordings were a source of communication between different branches of the Suri family and spanned more than 40 years and features both the commentary and presence of Sandhya at various ages of her formative life.
Sandhya’s follow-up feature documentary, AROUND INDIA WITH A MOVIE CAMERA, explored life in India in the lead-up to the partition of Indian 1947 using archive footage and music.
Sandhya’s narrative debut took the form of a short film, THE FIELD, which was produced by SANTOSH producer Balthazar de Ganay. The Field nominated for the BAFTA for Best Short Film in 2019, and won Best International Short at TIFF in 2018.
Screen International chose Sandhya Suri as Star of Tomorrow 2023.
Credits
Cast:
Shahana Goswami – SANTOSH
Sunita Rajwar – SHARMA
Sanjay Bishnoi – BENIWAL
Arbaz Khan – SALEEM
Crew:
Director: Sandhya Suri
Screenwriter: Sandhya Suri
Producers: Mike Goodridge, James Bowsher, Balthazar De Ganay, Alan McAlex
Director of Photography: Lennert Hillage
Editor: Maxime Pozzi Garcia
Set Design: Devika Dave
Music: Luisa Gerstein
Sound: Etienne Haug, Nikola Medic, Bruno Tarriere
Production:
Good Chaos, Haut et Court, Razor Film
In collaboration with:
BFI, BBC Film and ZDF/ARTE with support of the CNC
Press & Sales
Sales Company
Festival & Awards
World Premiere:
Cannes Film Festival 2024 – Official Selection – Un Certain Regard
Awards:
Jerusalem Film Festival 2024 International Cinema – Won Best International Debut