by Charles Kirkland Jr.
The widow of a slain police officer takes his place on a force rife with compromised ethics in Santosh.
When her police constable husband is killed on the job, through a government initiative, Santosh is
trained to take his place and receive his benefits. As she begins to work, Santosh quickly finds the innate
corruption in the police force when her superior cruelly dismisses a low-caste father’s attempt to file a
missing report on his teen daughter. The later discovery of the girl’s body ignites protests of police
misconduct in her community. In response to the negative publicity, the department recruits female
inspector Sharma (Sunita Rajwar) to lead the investigation. Santosh is immediately fascinated by
Sharma’s ability to ingratiate herself into the masculine culture of the station while remaining a fierce
advocate against gendered violence in public. Likewise, Sharma sees Santosh’s intelligence, dedication, and ambition and offers to mentor her.
Written and directed by Sandhya Suri, Santosh stars Shahana Goswami, Sunita Rajwar, Pratbha Awasthy, and Shashi Beniwal. Santosh premiered at Cannes as an Un Certain Regard selection.
Santosh starts as an indictment on police corruption in Northern India and quickly morphs into a tale
about combating toxic masculinity. It is also a gripping and thorough examination upon how the unfair
caste system influences the actions and perceived responsibilities of authority. Sandhya Suri takes a
purposeful and intent-filled approach to her presentation. She leaves no stone unturned as she explores
the subject of police corruption and its effects on the population in rural India.
The plot of Santosh is interesting. The concept of a person taking over the job of their deceased spouse
seems original and at the same time dangerous. The woman gets no training as a police officer and is
thrown into the fire of working law enforcement without any preparation. Perhaps the reason her
husband was killed, which was never explained or investigated, is from the same lack of training.
Despite small flaws in plot, Santosh is a not-so-careful indictment of police corruption and the effect it
can have on the citizens it is designed to protect and the officers who are charged with their protection.
Santosh has not yet been rated.
Grade: C-