5 days Ago By NAOMI CANTON
LONDON: The BAFTA and Oscar-nominated gritty, poignant movie “Santosh”, which explores misogyny, caste bigotry, systemic corruption and Islamophobia in rural north India, will not be screened at all in India in the foreseeable future. Good Chaos, the UK producers of Santosh, told TOI in a statement: “The Central Board of Film Certification of India saw ‘Santosh’ and asked that the filmmaker make considerable edits, which the team felt were impossible while retaining the essence of the film. Therefore there will be no theatrical release for the film in India in the foreseeable future.
” Shahani Goswami, daughter of economist and journalist Omkar Goswami, the lead actress in the movie, told TOI on Thursday she was very disappointed the movie would not be shown in India. Goswami plays Santosh, whose policeman husband was killed in a riot and she applies for and gets his position as a compassionate appointment. Soon she finds herself dealing with the case of a young Dalit girl who has been raped and murdered and has to learn how to survive in a patriarchal police force.
Goswami said: “I can only add that it’s really sad that a film that is about an aspect of our world, our reality, cannot be seen by the large cross-section of our people, despite the great response we’ve had whenever it’s shown in festivals in India. It’s a film that would have and could have done well at the theatre, but given the circumstances, it now is not possible. So that’s very disheartening.
And everyone I know seems to be very disappointed with this situation as it’s been a film that so many people have waited to watch here in India.” The Hindi-language feature had its South Asia premiere at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, where it screened in the South Asia competition section. Santosh was the UK’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards in March 2025, the first time the UK has ever put forward a Hindi film, and “Santosh” also received a nomination at the BAFTA Film Awards in Feb 2025 in the “Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer” category.
It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in May 2024 and is British Indian director Sandhya Suri ’s first feature film. Stay updated with the latest India news , weather , and Air Quality Index (AQI) updates for major cities like Delhi , Mumbai , Noida , and Bangalore on Times of India ..
