“A Writer Shouldn't Self-Censor,” Says Dir Sandhya Suri Of Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Santosh’

I remember the day when India’s official entry for the Oscars was announced. While we were all happy that Laapataa Ladies was the final selection, All We Imagine As Light missing the berth didn’t somehow feel right. However, what really caught my attention was the UK’s entry. It was a film called Santosh set in rural North India. It was intriguing for two reasons. First, the British entry last year The Zone Of Interest was the eventual winner of the Best International Film Award at the Oscars 2024. Second, it was such a pleasure to see a small-budget Hindi-language movie being recognized on the world stage.

Last month, Santosh got short-listed and now is one of the front runners to be among the eventual 5 nominations. Just after this news, I not only had the chance to watch the movie, but I also got to talk to the people who created the absolutely hard-hitting drama. In my chat with director Sandhya Suri and the lead actor Shahana Goswami, the thought in my mind constantly was, “Wow, I am talking to potential Oscar winners”.

I first congratulated them for Santosh being shortlisted for the Oscars. I had read that the Oscar campaigning process is an expensive and extensive one. I wanted to know how it was going for them.

Sandhya – Santosh is a small film. It’s my first feature. We don’t have any big OTT streamers behind us. But we have very good and experienced partners. I think they felt really confident in the strength of the film. They told me this film will grow from word of mouth from people seeing the film, and that’ll be what pushes the film forward. So far, touch wood, that’s been what’s happening.

The story is of a freshly widowed Santosh, who Shahana plays with sheer brilliance. I asked her how challenging this role was for her which is far from the lived reality she has had. Especially the culture and context the movie is set in.

Shahana – It was more challenging emotionally and psychologically for me. When I’m playing something where I myself have doubts, I appreciate the advantages of it because it keeps me grounded. It allows for self-reflection, but sometimes it can be debilitating. In those moments, I rely on the fact that a person who’s spent such a large part of their life writing something and choosing to direct it, who has auditioned you and chosen you, must have seen something in you to just go with their gut and their instinct.

What I loved about Santosh was that the movie doesn’t judge. It shows the evil of society like misogyny, bigotry, casteism, and classism, but it never gets preachy. We wanted to know how they wanted to show a mirror to society without the black-and-white lens.

Sandhya – I just want everyone to have that response. I think because I come from documentaries, filming real life and real people all the time, we view them as our characters in the way fiction filmmakers do. The world and people are gray and complicated. So, why just because I’m making a fiction film do I have to throw that all away and make a goody and a baddie, right? The main thing as a director is, okay, do I believe it or not?

One of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Santosh is eating from a plate. You can see a man looking at her creepily. So she starts stuffing her mouth, only to take all the food out. This ‘disgusting’ act is a perfect rebel against the disgusting way the man was seeing Santosh. I asked Shahana what she thought of the scene.

Shahana – It’s one of my favorite scenes from the time I read it in the script. I grew up in Delhi, and it was never pleasant back when I was growing up. It really became a kind of challenge—like, how can you avert a gaze? I would try to have a look that was like, “Don’t come near me. Don’t mess with me”. Other friends would make faces, or you think you could stare back at them, but then they’d become even more encouraged. So you just disgust them. Kudos to Sandhya for coming up with that idea.

Santosh doesn’t shy away from showing all things that are true in contemporary society. To avoid any kind of controversies, they have even changed all the location names. However, with its Indian release around the corner, I wanted to know how a writer pens down something so political while making sure that they don’t go into much censorship trouble.

Sandhya – Well, I think it’s very important for a writer not to be self-censoring. As you described it so well, the film does not judge or point its finger at anybody in particular. It’s just that the whole of society is structured around these fault lines – men, women, there are so many fault lines and so many power plays that cross these fault lines on a daily basis, on a little and on a big level. And I think anyone who’s from India and watches that film and disputes that fact, you know, is not being very honest with themselves. Again, if people want to politicize things, and people can politicize anything, you know, like that’s why I stay off social media.