Selected as the UK’s official submission for the 97th Academy Awards, Santosh marks the feature film directorial debut of British-Indian director Sandhya Suri. The film follows a young police officer investigating the murder of a low-caste girl in the rural badlands of India.
Santosh world premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The film was also screened at the 2024 Melbourne International Film Festival, the 49th Toronto International Film Festival, the 51st Telluride Film Festival, the 68th BFI London Film Festival, and is currently screening at the 38th AFI Fest.
Santosh stars Shahana Goswami, Sunita Rajwar, Sanjay Bishnoi, Kushal Dubey, Nawal Shukla, and Pratibha Awasthi.
Release Date
Directed by Sandhya Suri, Santosh opens in select US theaters on December 27, 2024.
Synopsis
Ripped from her life of domesticity, Santosh, a young widow now desperate to support herself, accepts an opportunity to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer in the rural badlands of India. Quickly taken under the wing of Sharma, a charismatic and commanding older female inspector, Santosh begins an investigation into a low-caste girl’s brutal murder that plunges her into a gritty world of crime and corruption, forcing her to confront not only the brokenness of the system around her, but her own place within it.
Reviews
Proma Khosla in an IndieWire review gave the film a score of B, praising its authenticity, writing, “Suri’s film is full of non-actors who excel at being themselves in front of the camera, the result so eminently watchable because it feels so remarkably like the real India.”
Ankit Jhunjhunwala in a Screen Anarchy review praised the film, writing, “A damning portrait of Indian police brutality, Santosh is a refreshing antidote to crass and vulgar Bollywood police offerings and will meaningfully engage and educate both Indian and Western audiences.”
Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer for Santosh.
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