When her police constable husband is killed on the job, young housewife Santosh (Shahana Goswami) is, due to a government initiative, trained to take his place on the force in rural Northern India. She’s eventually paired with a savvy, charismatic female inspector, Sharma (Sunita Rajwar), who’s arrived from outside the department to investigate the murder of a low-caste 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, Sandhya 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. Suri’s past work in documentaries clearly contributed to her eye for realistic detail.
Because of the way movies are made these days, Santosh was the UK’s submission for consideration as the Oscar for Best International Film, but this is an Indian film and an Indian story through and through.