International Art House Series
Newly widowed Santosh inherits her husband’s job as a police officer in rural Northern India. When a girl is murdered, she is pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic female inspector Sharma.
When her husband is killed on the job, young housewife Santosh is trained to take his place on the force in rural Northern India, eventually pairing with a savvy, charismatic female inspector, Sharma, who’s arrived from outside the department to investigate the murder of a girl. A gripping neorealist procedural and a patiently observed, complex character study of women working in the pressure-cooker environment of a corrupt, machismo-plagued workplace, Suri’s narrative feature debut—which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival—combines cool-headed directorial control and a palpable sense of fiery outrage. [128 min; drama; thriller; Hindi with English subtitles]
The January 23rd screening of this film will include a prerecorded Q&A between director Sandhya Suri and filmmaker Mira Nair after the film.
"Writer-director Sandhya Suri has made a tense, violent and politically savvy crime procedural set in India: a film about sexism, caste bigotry and Islamophobia that doubles as a study in the complex relationship between two female cops, a cynical veteran and a wide-eyed rookie." — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
"Suri’s film is full of non-actors who excel at being themselves in front of the camera, the result so eminently watchable because it feels so remarkably like the real India." — Promo Khosla, IndieWire
"Santosh is equally about the methods by which the poor and oppressed are kept in their place, and about what it means to be woman among men who aren’t at all interested in sharing their power." — Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
Jan 24
