Santosh doesn’t point fingers. Instead, it asks a lot of questions: Director Sandhya Suri

This research, eventually, became the basis of Santosh’s script. Santosh — which is selected as the UK’s official entry for the Oscars — will be screened at the upcoming MAMI Mumbai Film Festival under the South Asia Competition. The debut feature of Suri, who has directed documentaries and shorts including Bafta-nominated The Field (2018), revolves around the titular protagonist who gets her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of northern India. When a low-caste girl is murdered, Santosh (Shahana Goswami) is pulled into the investigation by charismatic inspector Geeta Sharma, played by Sunita Rajwar.

Ahead the South Asia premiere of Santosh – which was selected for the Un Certain Regard category of Cannes Film Festival 2024 and is the UK’s official Oscar entry – Suri talk about the making of her first feature, the casting of its leads and the plan for its India release. Excerpts:

Sunita Rajwar and Shahana Goswami in Santosh.

What does it mean to you to show Santosh at MAMI Mumbai Film Festival?

Showing Santosh in India is important for me. It was made with a strong intention that this film has to work for India as well as abroad. What’s important is that it is not a didactic film. It doesn’t point fingers. Instead, it asks a lot of questions. It’s more like a tapestry of a place where Santosh finds herself.

Also Read | Shahana Goswami, Sunita Rajwar-starrer Santosh becomes UK’s official entry to Oscars

What was your reaction to its selection as the UK’s Oscar entry?

It’s utterly fantastic and a huge honour. After The Zone of Interest (last year’s UK entry) won Academy Awards for Best International Film, there is a lot of interest in the UK’s entry this year. That’s good for our film. It’s a long journey ahead and we will try to make it as far as we can.

How closely are you connected to India?

I was born in the UK. My father, who had come here to study medicine, like many immigrants dreamed of returning to India. When I was six years old, we returned to India. But he realised that it was too late for him to settle there. After that failed expedition, we returned to England. My father was very emotional about India and always referred to India as ‘my land’ and ‘my country’. I inherited his strong sense of nostalgia for India. I even took Hindi classes at the university. My daughter, who is three years old, takes Hindi lessons.

What has been your journey with the story and script of Santosh?

Earlier, I made documentaries and had no plan of switching to fiction. When I had this idea, I happened to speak to the Sundance Institute. They said you should try to write it and apply for the screenwriting lab. There was a lot of support from amazing writers at the lab to form the idea. Writing the script was not a difficult process. What was important for me is to feel confident to direct a film in this genre. A lot of time was spent on research. We were lucky to get majority financing from the UK even though it’s a Hindi-language film.

I have spent a lot of time with NGOs in India and being in small towns of north India. Many details have come from these observations. Then we did more specific research – working with police anthropologists and spending time on the ground to have in-depth discussions. With so many police-related shows around, all you can do is make everything precise. That’s what I have tried to do to stand out.

Was the script of Santosh written with two female cops at the centre from the start?

Yes. When the first draft of the script was written in 2015, I was always interested in mentor and mentee roles. I thought sometimes there is so much interest in female solidarity but in reality female relationships are complex. I wanted to explore that kind of relationship. It is much more complex than women sticking together against men.

What was the process of casting Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar for the film?

For me, Santosh (Goswami) is someone who is ambitious and passionate. When I met Shahana, I realised she has passion within her and a great ability to be subtle. I thought she could hold the grief over the loss of her husband inside. I could feel the tension within her and the grief that she does not let out. Her physicality in the uniform looked so commanding. I was drawn to Sunita because of her face. In Indian cinema, we portray the matriarch as someone severe. Her character could easily be that. But I wanted someone we could empathise with. She has a naturally warm and vivacious personality that I was trying to control. We cast Shahana and Sunita at the same time because we did chemistry tests with them.

Shahana Goswami in Santosh.

Did your sensibilities as a documentary filmmaker seep into your feature?

In documentaries, you are always looking for the truth or a deep sense of authenticity. As a documentary filmmaker, it was hard to get your head around the choices that one makes for fiction films. For me, it was important that these choices are based on something real and have a good anchor – something that’s seen and researched. I have been with this project for nearly 10 years. Since the story of Santosh is embedded within me, many decisions we took for the film felt okay. We shot during a harsh summer in Uttar Pradesh. Now, I am sitting in London and missing the adrenaline.

How was the experience of shooting on location?

It was important for me that the film feels immersive. We were looking for some peri-urban kind of place. My producers in India, who had already shot in Lucknow, said that it was very shooting friendly, we could have in the periphery these small places and that could have access to good actors from the area. So, we cast a number of actors from Lucknow as well. When I wanted to do night shoots in live locations, the crew supported me though it was difficult with so many people around.

Also Read | Santosh at Cannes: Sandhya Suri’s debut exposes the dark heart of small-town India

Three of the most-talked about movies based in India this year – All We Imagined As Light, Laapataa Ladies and Santosh – are directed by women. Any thoughts?

They are all good and strong films. They are there (in the limelight) for their quality. We make films that’s inside of us. But not everything that I make will be about women.

MAMI Mumbai Film Festival will hold screenings of Santosh at PVR, Juhu, on October 21, 23, 24. For details, check mami.mumbaifilmfestival.com.