Latest news with #SandhyaSuri
New Indian Express
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Romance on her mind
'The beauty and the tragedy of modern romance is that it's not about a lack of love, it's the difficulty of syncing two evolving individuals. The mismatch of timing, the chaos of life, that's what causes the disconnection.' What continues to draw her to cinema is its ability to embrace the quiet intimacy of human emotion. She recalls Santosh, directed by Sandhya Suri, where the titular character isn't a damsel in distress but a strong, morally ambiguous woman navigating a broken system. Similarly, in Four Years Later, Sri Devi is a woman open to dating apps, arranged marriage, and finding herself anew, sometimes all at once. 'She prioritises love and marriage, yes, but also realises there's more to her life. That realisation comes not from crisis but from introspection. That's what makes her journey real.' Shahana has never shied away from playing complex, assertive women, characters who live, breathe, falter, and fight. Whether it was Debbie Mascarenhas, the resilient wife in Rock On!!, or Muneera in Firaaq, or Amina in Midnight's Children, her filmography reads like a testament to women with agency. More recently, she played an ambitious corporate executive in Bombay Begums, the manipulative Meenakshi in A Suitable Boy, and a stoic woman constable stepping into her deceased husband's role in Santosh, each role peeling back different layers of the female experience.
Express Tribune
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Why India won't see festival darling 'Santosh' in theatres
British-Indian director Sandhya Suri's film Santosh, which has received international acclaim for its portrayal of misogyny, caste discrimination, and Islamophobia, has been blocked from release in India by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), sparking debate over censorship, artistic freedom, and systemic issues in Indian cinema. According to The Times of India, UK producers Good Chaos stated: "The Central Board of Film Certification of India saw Santosh and asked that the filmmaker make considerable edits, which the team felt were impossible while retaining the essence of the film. As a result, the film will not see a theatrical release in India." Santosh is a Hindi-language film crime drama co-produced by UK, India, France and Germany. The film follows a young widow who joins the police force in a fictional North Indian town, investigating the brutal murder of a Dalit girl. The film explores police brutality, caste-based discrimination, systemic corruption, and rising anti-Muslim sentiment in contemporary India. Premiering in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Santosh was selected as the UK's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Oscars and garnered a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut. Lead actor Shahana Goswami won Best Actress at the Asian Film Awards for her portrayal of the titular character. Despite its international success, the CBFC refused to certify the film in India, citing its "negative portrayal" of the police. The move has drawn criticism, with many accusing the CBFC of hypocrisy and intolerance toward films that challenge societal institutions. Reactions to the ban Speaking to Guardian, Suri expressed her frustration, emphasising that the film's themes are not new to Indian cinema. "I don't feel my film glorifies violence in a way that many other films focusing on the police have done. There's nothing sensationalist about it," said the director. Suri also highlighted the importance of the film's documentary-like realism, which she believes might have made the censors uncomfortable. Unlike many popular Indian films, Santosh lacks a traditional hero figure and offers a stark critique of systemic injustices, making it a rare and bold cinematic endeavour. Goswami, who portrays the protagonist Santosh, expressed her disappointment in a statement to The Times of India. "It's sad that a film about our reality cannot be seen by most people, despite the great response at festivals in India." The ban on Santosh comes at a time when India's cultural landscape is under intense scrutiny. While films promoting anti-Muslim or nationalist narratives thrive, critical voices - whether through films or comedy - are increasingly silenced. Actor and activist Riz Ahmed added his voice to the conversation, urging audiences to "Go see the film they don't want you to" in an Instagram story. With no formal appeals process within the CBFC, filmmakers like Suri are left with limited legal options to challenge such bans. Suri has vowed to continue fighting for the film's release, stating, "It is vitally important for those affected by the film's themes to see it."
BBC News
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Father's 'film letters' home inspired director Sandhya Suri
The director of the critically acclaimed crime thriller Santosh credits her father for sparking her passion for filmmaking. Sandhya Suri grew up in Darlington, where her late father, Dr Yash Pal Suri, worked as a consultant geriatrician for 20 years. When he was not caring for elderly patients, he was documenting life in a new country. "He was a big movie fan," Suri says of her father."He wanted to be an actor but his dad wouldn't really let him - it was his dream that his son would be a doctor, so he became a doctor."But all the while he kept making films."When Dr Suri came to England he wanted to stay in touch with family in India. Telegrams were expensive and the phone lines at the time were not reliable. So he bought two Super 8 cameras, two projectors, and two reel-to-reel audio recorders."He shipped one set back to India and kept one set here," Suri says."We basically made these film letters and sent them back and forth between England and India for 40 years." Suri was part of that "filmmaking experience" and would set up the projector screen and watch her Indian family's films when they sent their responses. "So it was always in our blood," she says. "Well, in his, and I inherited it." Growing up in Darlington in the 1980s and 90s, Suri experienced life in a predominantly white town, which she says helped shape her creative perspective."There were maybe only three or four Asian kids at my school," she says."When you don't have your aunties, uncles and cousins around you like everyone else does, there's an intensity to that. "There was also, of course, a sense of outsider status at the time, which makes you observe the world a little differently. You're always on the outside looking in."Suri believes this is helpful for any artist and she found the experience fed her curiosity and "that observer instinct filmmakers tend to have". Years later, Suri still visits her family home in Darlington's Hummersknott area, where her elderly mother lives, as often as she can. "I have all these memories of hanging out with my friends here, walking back from school," she says."Now, when I come back with age, I use it more as a place to think about ideas, reflect on everything, and sometimes make ideas work, just by walking." Inspired by her father's archive, Suri made the 2005 documentary I for India, using home movies and voice recordings to tell the story of her family's immigrant experience. Now, nearly two decades later, she has turned her attention to debut feature, Santosh, is a Hindi-language drama set in Northern India, following a young woman who inherits her late husband's job as a police officer through a real-life government scheme."With every piece of work I do, I want to explore something different, both in terms of filmmaking and tone," Suri describes I for India as a "bittersweet, emotional, and nostalgic" film and her latest creation as an "uncompromising noir thriller"."It deals with many things, but the key one for me was violence against women," she says."Not just in the Indian context, where the film is set, but as a global issue. As an artist, as a filmmaker, it's something I wanted to address in whatever way I could." Suri and Santosh's producers, Balthazar de Ganay and James Bowsher, were nominated in the BAFTA outstanding debut category and won two British Independent Film Awards (BIFA). The film was the UK's entry for Best International Feature Film at the showing in UK cinemas, it marks a significant milestone for Suri, who spent a decade bringing it to life."I'm very, very excited because I'm bringing it home, and that means a huge amount," she says."All the awards are fantastic but, ultimately, it's all one step closer to more cinemas and more audiences." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Internationally acclaimed film Santosh blocked in India over portrayal of police brutality
Indian film censors have blocked the release of critically acclaimed film Santosh over concerns about its portrayal of misogyny, Islamophobia and violence in the Indian police force. Santosh, written and directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, is set in north India and has won international plaudits for its portrayal of a young widow who joins the police force and investigates the murder of a young Dalit girl. The film is an unflinching fictional portrayal of the murkier elements of the Indian police force, depicting deep-rooted misogyny, discrimination against Dalits – the lowest caste in India previously known as untouchables – and the normalisation of mistreatment and torture by police officers. The film also grapples with the issue of sexual violence in India, particularly against lower caste women, and the rising tide of anti-Muslim prejudice in the country. Santosh made its debut at Cannes film festival to widespread acclaim. It was the UK's official entry for the Oscars' international feature category and went on to be nominated for a Bafta for best debut feature this year, as well as receiving glowing reviews, including five stars in the Observer, which called it a 'phenomenal achievement'. Its lead actor, Shahana Goswami, recently won best actress at the Asian film awards. The film was made in India, has an entirely Indian cast and is all in Hindi, the dominant language of north India. The filmmakers had previously submitted the script in order to film in India and had faced no issues. India's largest cinema chain was also on board to distribute the film in January. However, Indian audiences are unlikely to ever be able to see it in cinemas after censors on the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), a government body which approves all cinematic releases, refused to do so for Santosh over concerns about its negative portrayal of the police. Suri, the film's writer and director, described the decision by the censors as 'disappointing and heartbreaking'. 'It was surprising for all of us because I didn't feel that these issues were particularly new to Indian cinema or hadn't been raised before by other films,' she said. Suri said the censors had demanded a list radical cuts so lengthy and wide-ranging that they would be 'impossible' to implement. Legal restrictions prevented her sharing exact details of the censor's demands, but she said that the list of cuts was so long it had gone on for several pages, and included concerns about themes relating to police conduct and wider societal problems which are deeply baked into the film. 'It was very important to me that the film is released in India so I did try to figure out if there was a way to make it work,' said Suri. 'But in the end it was just too difficult to make those cuts and have a film that still made sense, let alone stayed true to its vision.' Suri emphasised that while the film offered an uncompromising depiction of the police, 'I don't feel my film glorifies violence in a way that many other films focusing on the police have done. There's nothing sensationalist about it.' The decision by the censorship board comes at a time when India's cultural sphere is seen to be more heavily policed than ever, with films and TV series dealing with politically sensitive themes often targeted with hate campaigns and police cases, or dropped by streaming platforms before they are released. Suri admitted she had been 'nervous' about releasing the film in India in the current climate but insisted it was 'vitally important' for her that the very people affected by the issues in the film were able to see it. It was the incident in 2012 of a women raped on a bus in Delhi, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, that had initially inspired her to make the film and she had collaborated with Indian non-government organisations when building up the story. Police violence and torture is a well-documented issue in India. According to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, police in India routinely use torture and flout arrest procedures with little or no accountability. Depictions of police violence have also previously appeared in Indian cinema but Suri questioned whether the highly realistic depictions in Santosh – as opposed to the often stylised format of Bollywood and other Indian film industries – had caused discomfort among the censors. 'Maybe there's something about this film which is troubling in that everybody is morally compromised and there is no single hero,' she said. 'I think that's what might set it apart from other stories in Indian cinema which often show a maverick cop in a rotten system.' No Indian police figures have responded to coverage of the film, which is set in a fictional north Indian town. The CBFC have been contacted for comment. There is no appeals process or negotiation allowed with the CBFC once their report is submitted and the matter can be contested only in court. However, Suri said she would still keep fighting to have the film available to Indian audiences. 'All my work has been about India; one film was deeply nostalgic, another was super beautiful and sensual,' she said, 'Yes this one shows another face of the country. But there's humanity in everybody in this film.'
Khaleej Times
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Asian Film Awards 2025: Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' wins Best Film
Payal Kapadia movie All We Imagine As Light bagged a the 2025 Asian Film Awards, where her film ' All We Imagine As Light ' clinched the prestigious Best Film award. The 2025 Asian Film Awards, which celebrate the best of Asian cinema, took place on Sunday at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District. The film competed against strong contenders like Black Dog (China), Exhuma (South Korea), Teki Cometh (Japan), and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Hong Kong). "Thank you so much to my lead actors -- three incredible artists and human beings. They are the ones who made this film what it is. I'm so happy that we could end our journey here in Hong Kong, a city that has meant a lot to me, watching the amazing films from this city over the years," said Kapadia from the stage inside Hong Kong's gleaming Xiqu Centre, where the ceremony was held. All We Imagine As Light stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Anand Sami, and Hridhu Haroon. It follows the story of Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, and her young roommate Anu, who seeks intimacy with her boyfriend. Their journey to a beach town forces them to confront their emotions and desires. The film is currently available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. Meanwhile, Shahana Goswami won the Best Actress award for her role in Santosh, directed by first-time filmmaker Sandhya Suri. The director also won the Best New Director award. Goswami, while expressing her gratitude, said, "I'd also like to thank myself. I feel like I'm always under-confident and never give myself enough credit, so I want to thank the Asian Film Awards Academy for giving me this vote of confidence." Directed by Sandhya Suri, the film stars Shahana as a driven young Hindu widow who inherits her husband's job as a police constable thanks to a government scheme. She finds herself caught up in institutional corruption even as she warms to working with the rough-edged veteran detective Inspector Sharma (Sunita Rajwar) on a brutal murder case involving a teenage girl from the lower-caste Dalit community. The film is an international co-production between the United Kingdom, India, Germany, and France.
