'Why Santosh, UK’s Official Oscar Entry, Won’t Release In India
Santosh is a crime drama, based on the murder of a young girl and stars Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar in the lead roles.
Santosh, a 2024 Hindi film directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, won’t be released in India, its makers have said. The film, which was the UK’s international feature film submission to the Oscars 2025, has been blocked in the country owing to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)’s objection against the depiction of police brutality, caste discrimination, and misogyny in the film, according to media reports. But CBFC has not banned the film from being released in India.
Set in rural North India, Santosh is a crime-drama based on the murder of a young girl. Written by Suri, the film stars Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar in lead roles. While Goswami portrays a widow who takes on the job of a police constable, inherited by her husband after his death, Rajwar essays hardliner senior inspector in the police force.
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A key crew member, in an interaction with HT, said, “They [the board] gave a long list of cuts at the end of January or early February that they wanted us to implement, and other than the cuts. Suri tried to see if these could be implemented but ultimately, there was no room for negotiation as the list was final."
The storyline of Santosh revolves around the themes of caste discrimination, sexual violence, Islamophobia and police brutality, prompting the film board to demand cuts “without any reason".
Talking about the same, Sandhya Suri told The Guardian that the cuts demanded of the film were “impossible" to implement. Without divulging details of the cuts, she said the list of demands was extremely long.
Sandhya said, “It was very important to me that the film be released in India so I did try to figure out if there was a way to make it work. 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."
Santosh premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 20 under the Prix Un Certain Regard category. The film was nominated for the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director and Producer category at the 78th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA). Furthermore, Goswami and Suri were honoured with the Best Actress and best new director, respectively at the Asian Film Awards.
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