Films: Sandhya Suri’s Santosh: Review and Interview
Described as an engrossing forensic thriller and a moving portrait of Indian women in policing, Sandhya Suri’s Hindi-language movie made history as the U.K.’s official 2025 Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film. It was on the shortlist of 15 films.
Sandhya Suri’s debut feature film, Santosh, masterfully weaves the grit of a police procedural with the emotional depth of a personal transformation. The story follows Santosh, portrayed by the captivating Shahana Goswami, a widow reluctantly thrust into a career she never sought. After her husband’s untimely death, she is forced to step into his shoes as a constable through a government program.
In her small, rural community, Santosh has long been invisible—a childless widow marginalized by societal norms. But donning her uniform becomes a catalyst for change, sparking an awakening within her as she starts to reclaim her voice and identity.
Her first major case—a missing teenage girl—becomes a baptism by fire, exposing her to the brutal realities of law enforcement. This is also where she meets Geeta Sharma (played by Sunita Rajwar), a hardened inspector who serves as both a mentor and a cautionary tale. Geeta’s survival in the male-dominated world of Indian policing hinges on her willingness to bend morality and make compromises.
Suri’s direction is seamless, shifting effortlessly between edge-of-your-seat tension and quiet, emotional moments. She doesn’t shy away from depicting the ugliness of violence, presenting it in all its unflinching, messy reality. In a particularly intense interrogation scene, Santosh initially just watches as a suspect is brutalized by Sharma and her fellow policemen. Then, her simmering anger and grief boil over, pushing her to the edge as she confronts the suspect with a chilling intensity. The scene powerfully captures the complex mix of personal trauma, systemic injustice, and the raw reality of custodial violence.
To call it just a thriller would be reductive. Santosh is an honest and unforgettable tale of resilience and self-discovery. The film has been chosen as the U.K.’s official submission to the Oscars for Best International Feature Film. It has captivated audiences at major festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, and London, and has earned accolades such as a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer. The National Board of Review also named it one of the top 5 international films of 2024.
Sandhya Suri speaks to Khabar about the making of Santosh
Bollywood police films often glorify violence, with officers taking the law into their own hands. How did you approach challenging that trope with Santosh?
It was about creating a sort of morally gray universe, where everybody has a certain shade of gray. I wasn’t interested in the typical “good cop in a bad system” storyline. It was about putting Santosh in that context and seeing how she absorbs and responds to the casual presence of prejudice, violence, and corruption all around her. I was fascinated by the shades of gray—how everyone, including Santosh, has their own moral complexities and dilemmas that they’re grappling with.
Can you tell us more about Santosh’s profound transformation from a housewife to a policewoman? Were there any real-life figures that influenced this character arc?
Santosh’s transformation wasn’t based on any specific real-life figures. Once I decided that Santosh was going to be a policewoman who comes in on compassionate grounds, then her trajectory just lent itself so much to such an interesting exploration of power and violence. She goes from being a housewife to a widow, and she’s lost her status in society. And now she’s trying to find that status again, but through this uniform that has a huge amount of status attached to it. The uniform has both a dark and a light shade to it. So, Santosh is on this empowerment journey that also has its own dark and light shades. I was really fascinated by tracing that trajectory—from a housewife to a widow, and now this policewoman trying to reclaim her place in society through this powerful role.
How did you approach the challenge of balancing Santosh’s personal journey with the broader societal issues you wanted to explore?
You know, the film started with a seed about violence against women. And it’s also kind of the end image of the film, making us think about vulnerability, safety, and protection. For me, it wasn’t so much about having a checklist of themes to cover. It was about putting Santosh in a place where prejudice, violence, and corruption are just casually there—not just in India, but all over the world. I was interested in seeing how she absorbs that, and what the effect is on her. The bigger struggle and balance was really about plot and character. When you’re working in the police genre, there has to be a certain level of satisfaction regarding the plot. But I also had to make sure I kept enough space for what the film was really about—Santosh’s personal journey, her relationship with Sharma, and their complex, morally ambiguous dynamics.
The bond between Santosh and her mentor, Sharma, seems crucial. How important was it for you to capture the nuances of female solidarity in their relationship?
It would have been very easy to just make a film about a straightforward sisterhood against the patriarchy story when Santosh joins the police force. But female relationships are so much more complex than that. Even a mentor-mentee relationship—it’s complicated. I think it’s really interesting to understand that in a relationship. There can be so many things coexisting at the same time. There can be love and nurturing, but there can also be manipulation and hurt. I wanted to show how all those different elements can exist simultaneously. Because when a woman is in a system like Geeta Sharma is, she’s also had to make her own compromises. She’s grappling with her own moral dilemmas. Exploring that was so crucial to me, because I think it reflects the real-life complexities of female relationships in a much more honest and compelling way. I didn’t want to shy away from the messy, uncomfortable aspects. I wanted to dive right into that morally ambiguous territory
Would you consider yourself an activist filmmaker, or do you have a different approach to social advocacy in your work?
I wouldn’t describe myself as an activist filmmaker. I don’t want to be didactic or teach the audience something. My goal is to leave space for questioning and complex emotional responses. I want the film to be anchored in something personal, whether an emotion or a sense of injustice, but I’m not trying to deliver a message. I want the audience to engage actively with the material.
As a filmmaker and a woman, what did the process of making Santosh teach you about yourself and the world?
This was my first major feature film, and it was a trial by fire. But it taught me about my own resilience and the importance of having a clear creative vision. As a single mother, it was incredibly challenging, but also heartening and strengthening. I realized that with that clarity of purpose, you can get through immense obstacles. It has bolstered my confidence in tackling complex, meaningful projects going forward.
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