The critically acclaimed crime thriller Santosh has now earned a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. Written and directed by Sandhya Suri, the award-winning film is also on the Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature Film.
Speaking about the new BAFTA nomination, Suri said “This is a wonderful honour. Making Santosh has been a long journey, a good decade of plodding, researching, refining and getting ready to make what is quite an ambitious fiction debut in the middle of India, prepping in the peak of summer. The entire team was so deeply committed, they really eased the path for me. After a great reception at Cannes it means a lot to bring Santosh home and have this recognition in the UK. I really hope this nod from Bafta will help drive audiences to come out and see the film when it is released here [UK] in March.”
Santosh is a brilliant film that tells the tale of the young widow Santosh. Ripped from her life of domesticity, Santosh, now desperate to support herself, accepts an opportunity to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer in the rural badlands of India. Quickly taken under the wing of Sharma, a charismatic and commanding older female inspector, Santosh begins an investigation into a low-caste girl’s brutal murder that plunges her into a gritty world of crime and corruption, forcing her to confront not only the brokenness of the system around her, but her own place within it.
Santosh is currently playing in US cinemas in New York and Los Angeles and will release in several additional US cities on January 31. The film has not been given certification clearance by India’s censor board so a release in that country is currently undetermined. Santosh, featuring outstanding performances by stars Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar has earned a perfect 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Be sure to check out our interview with Sandhya Suri here.
