CrimeDramaThriller

Santosh

- Nothing is more dangerous than following orders.

A government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered, she is pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.

Release Date : 2024-07-17

Language :Hindi

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Good ChaosHaut et CourtRazor Film ProduktionMK2 FilmsSuitable PicturesZDF/ArteL'Aide aux Cinémas du MondeCNCInstitut Français

Production Country : FranceGermanyUnited Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Constable Santosh Saini

Original Name : Shahana Goswami

Gender : Female

Character Name : Inspector Sharma

Original Name : Sunita Rajwar

Gender : Female

Character Name : Inspector Thakur

Original Name : Naval Shukla

Gender : Male

Character Name : Beniwal

Original Name : Sanjay Bishnoi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Constable Kohli

Original Name : Shashi Beniwal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Inspector Mundi

Original Name : Prashant Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Priya

Original Name : Pratibha Awasthi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Head Constable Yadav

Original Name : Manjul Azad

Gender : Male

Character Name : Constable Bimla

Original Name : Anamika Gupta

Gender : Male

Character Name : Constable Aravind

Original Name : Kuldeep Saini

Gender : Male

Character Name : Constable Pandey

Original Name : Vipin Agarwal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mess Constable

Original Name : Soumya Singh

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nehrat Constable #1

Original Name : Deepak Sonkar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nehrat Constable #2

Original Name : Anjani Srivastava

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nehrat Constable #3

Original Name : Sujeet Singh Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nehrat Constable #4

Original Name : Arpit Kumar Mishra

Gender : Male

Character Name : Additional Constable #1

Original Name : Gotendra Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Additional Constable #2

Original Name : Abhay Bachpaye

Gender : Male

Character Name : Additional Constable #3

Original Name : Jitendra Singh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ram Pippal

Original Name : Anil Gudiya

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rani Pippal

Original Name : Sangama Tharu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Devika Pippal

Original Name : Nandini Tharu

Gender : Male

Character Name : Roopa Pippal

Original Name : Hariyali

Gender : Male

Character Name : Father Ravi

Original Name : Sunil Thakur

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mother Satya

Original Name : Geeta Tyagi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Vikram

Original Name : Kushal Dubey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Anu

Original Name : Ananya Thakur

Gender : Male

Character Name : Grandma Kanta

Original Name : Manju Gupta

Gender : Male

Character Name : Saleem

Original Name : Arbaz Khan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Saleem's Father

Original Name : Jamil Warsi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Saleem's Mother

Original Name : Ram Kumari

Gender : Male

Character Name : Saleem's Sister #1

Original Name : Arvi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Saleem's Sister #2

Original Name : Amna

Gender : Male

Character Name : Father-in-Law

Original Name : Shiv Deen Singh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Naveen

Original Name : Mridula Bhardwaj

Gender : Male

Character Name : Commissioner

Original Name : Ravi Gupta

Gender : Male

Character Name : Silent Officer at Commissioner's House

Original Name : Rakesh Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Commissioner's Maid

Original Name : Nirmala Kashyap

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mortician

Original Name : Rajesh Kumar Awasthi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Morgue Assistant

Original Name : Ashish Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Woman Complainant

Original Name : Akriti Vishwakarma

Gender : Male

Character Name : Complainant's Mother

Original Name : Shashi Kiran Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Complainant's Father

Original Name : Ashok Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Raman

Original Name : Anuj Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pradhan

Original Name : Shweta Jaiswal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Meenu

Original Name : Yogi Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Men at Pradhan House #1

Original Name : Prabhat Kumar Lahiri

Gender : Male

Character Name : Men at Pradhan House #2

Original Name : Brij Bhushan Shukla

Gender : Male

Character Name : Men at Pradhan House #3

Original Name : Afzal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Men at Pradhan House #4

Original Name : Salman Khan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman at Well

Original Name : Jaya Varma

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Man in Cot

Original Name : Cheddilal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cycle Boy at Well

Original Name : Aman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Village Woman

Original Name : Soniya Singh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Yellow-Shirted Man at the well

Original Name : Dilip

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy Giving Directions

Original Name : Piyush

Gender : Male

Character Name : Another Old Man at Village

Original Name : Zubair Siddiqui

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hostile Bearded Young Villager

Original Name : Abhishek Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Middle Aged Man at Village

Original Name : Niyaz Khan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman Protestor

Original Name : Sonam Gupta

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Man Protestor

Original Name : Rakesh Sharma

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pippal's Neighbor

Original Name : Ram Kishore

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nehrat Autodriver

Original Name : Avinash Baba

Gender : Male

Character Name : Butcher

Original Name : Shane Ahmad

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cobbler

Original Name : Rakesh Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mess Manager

Original Name : Arvind Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Staring Man

Original Name : Asif Rahman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pappu

Original Name : Umakant Maurya

Gender : Male

Character Name : Masood

Original Name : Ashutosh Tripathi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cricket Boy #1

Original Name : Shubham Katiyar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cricket Boy #2

Original Name : Swarnim Srivastava

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cricket Boy #3

Original Name : Ayush Shahi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Manu Dar

Original Name : Ravi Tripathy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hotel Manager

Original Name : Pradeep Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Middle Aged Male

Original Name : Ashok Kumar Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : Girl in Park

Original Name : Yashika Tyagi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy in Park

Original Name : Akarsh Srivastava

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cocky Kid

Original Name : Aman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ravi

Original Name : Ashok Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Teaboy

Original Name : Tiger

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young College Student

Original Name : Abhishek Yadav

Gender : Male

Character Name : NDTV Reporter

Original Name : Komal

Gender : Male

Character Name : Reporter #3

Original Name : Tarun Pratap Singh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tempo Driver

Original Name : Anand Kumar Pal

Gender : Male

Character Name : TV Anchor

Original Name : Megha Chauhan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Waiter Boy

Original Name : Harshit Shukla

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman Pedestrian

Original Name : Preeti Singh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Policeman

Original Name : Ajay Kumar Gaudh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hawker Girl

Original Name : Anjali

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hawker Girl's Friend

Original Name : Pooja

Gender : Male

Character Name : Motorcycle Driver

Original Name : Mohammad Arif

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy in Street Gang

Original Name : Arshan Siddique

Gender : Male

Character Name : Brother-in-Law

Original Name : Yogesh Mudgal

Gender : Male

Character Name : VIP Guest #1

Original Name : Niyaz Ahmad Khan

Gender : Male

Character Name : VIP Guest #2

Original Name : Zuber Ahmad

Gender : Male

Character Name : VIP Guest #3

Original Name : Prakash 'Kallu' Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old Man with Ice

Original Name : Nadir Ali

Gender : Male

Character Name : Priest

Original Name : Ashish Mishra

Gender : Male

Character Name : Boy on Wall

Original Name : Munna

Gender : Male

Character Name : Green-Shirted Man

Original Name : Abhishek Kumar

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lover at Train Station #1

Original Name : Vishal Singh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lover at Train Station #2

Original Name : Rajeshwari

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2025-01-14

Recently widowed and facing the loss of her home, the eponymous woman (Shahana Goswami) is offered a chance to take over her late husband's job as a police officer. Having basically inherited his post without any training, her first task is to work with the no-nonsense "Insp. Sharma" (Sunita Rajwar) on an horrific case in which a young girl has been brutally raped and unceremoniously dumped in a fairly lawless area of Northern India. Disgusted by the crime and by the societal attitudes of many of those the investigations touches - who mostly couldn't care less - we alight on a candidate for the crime and what ensues tests not just her mettle as a police officer but her own morals as the methods of interrogation employed by her new boss are not exactly court-ordered. That's the potent thrust of this film for me, and I didn't find that to sit so easily. The atrocity of the crime is symptomatic of cultural attitudes amidst a society where women are little better than chattels to be used and disposed of by men as required. The question of ethics starts to loom large, though, when the suspect is treated with a brutality that asks whether two wrongs make a right. It's a sort of vigilante justice that pays scant, if any, regard for due process and begs huge questions which are addressed quite poignantly at the very denouement of this quite harrowing and thought-provoking drama. The acting itself is all adequate enough but I thought Goswani relied too much on long pauses and silences to convey the sense of conflict faced by her character as the plot developed. She's not helped by the staccato writing that can hit some potent notes at times, but for the most part seems content to let what we are seeing do the work - and that left me feeling a little uneasy about the retributive elements of the drama. There's no doubt that it does provoke a conversation about women's rights in India and about their appalling position within a male-dominated hierarchy, but is throwing the rule of law under the police bus the answer?