KVIFF 2024: “Santosh” is a gripping procedural thriller from India
by Alex Billington
July 2, 2024
We live in turbulent times where the problems of modern society seem to get worse with every passing day. Every country is grappling with major challenges and India is no exception. On the one hand, we are striving to solve social issues related to women’s rights and corruption. On the other hand, corruption remains rampant and the caste system dominates every aspect of life no matter who is trying to change it. Santosh is a masterful example of filmmaking and storytelling that may give you hope. This has been an exceptional year for Indian cinema with several highlights. Girls are girls Sundance action movies kill Theatrical release, directed by Dev Patel Monkey Manand the award-winning Everything we imagine is light From Cannes. Santosh Another gem that will be shown at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and my favorite Indian film in the lineup at this summer’s festival. To be honest, I Everything we imagine is lightAfter premiering in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival, Santosh The film was also selected for the 2024 Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it was one of the best films screened.
Written and directed by film director Sandhya Suri, Santosh This marks her directorial debut as a feature film, having previously made one documentary. The film is primarily a police procedural drama with a touch of noir, but subverts the usual procedural drama by telling a disturbing story and showing how corrupt most of the police in India are. Shahana Goswami In a deeply moving performance, she inherits her husband’s job as a police officer in North India, and when the body of a young girl is discovered, she is approached by the charismatic feminist Inspector Sharma ( Sunita RajwarAs he investigates and tries to help an “untouchable” family who has lost their daughter, Santosh begins to realise that everything is more complicated than it seems. This falls into a familiar pattern of a kind-hearted, honest and driven cop being thoroughly panned by his colleagues, and delves further into local deception and the many problems that permeate every aspect of Indian life. Even if she is a “good cop” and Sharma seems an inspiring character at first, this alone will not amount to real progress. The old adage that change can only be achieved from within makes one wonder if it is total nonsense.
This film was powerful from start to finish and left quite an impression on me. It’s complex, multi-layered, and has a lot to say, but it also contains some hard truths to ponder, making the story fascinating to follow. Even if you already know these truths, even if you know that a broken system is hard to change, at least this film has an underlying hope that keeps the story interesting. I understand that it’s hard to convince someone to see a movie like this (outside of a film festival), but I have to try. do not have It is an unforgettable film for me and I hope it leaves others with an unforgettable feeling too. Goswami’s performance as Santosh is mesmerizing, she is intense and caring but not aloof or unapproachable. She is also quite quiet but you can feel every emotion and thought in her eyes. The film is made with dynamic filmmaking, some cuts made me giddy with joy and the pacing is handled with a great understanding of cinema. It is not as slow as a boring slow burn thriller but it is not too fast paced or choppy either and the tension rises and falls just right. It is a little long at 2 hours but still it held my attention completely.
Best of all, it wraps up beautifully with a breathtaking finale. Those last two shots are the real deal. These two shots and how they blew me away completely forced me to give it a high final rating. While the rest of the film doesn’t completely break away from a traditional storyline, those final minutes really hit home and make everything that came before that much more meaningful. I’ve always had a soft spot for train shots and these two shots blew me away… one of them was a “this is history” shot inspired by an old train. Zoetrope Technique. This is a fascinating, smart, vibrant movie that I always look forward to at any film festival. I will be happily raving about it for the rest of the year. I hope that this movie can have an impact and create some kind of change. And if it does, even if it is just a do not have She participates in a broken system, despite advice that this is the only way to solve the problems. There is so much to learn from Santosh and I am glad that the film industry has such a vibrant role model.
Alex’s KVIFF 2024 rating: 9 out of 10
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