‘Santosh’ Review: Shahana Goswami Commands the Screen in Story About Indian Policing

Who wields power in society? What will they do when they have it? Will they wield it justly or, as frequently happens, use it to create more cycles of violence? In Sandhya Suri’s searing yet subtle debut “Santosh,” these urgent questions float around everything as it takes a look at policing and injustice in modern India. Placing us in the shoes of the titular Santosh, a Hindu widow played with quiet intensity by Shahana Goswami, we follow her as she becomes part of the Indian police. This was her late husband’s job which she has now inherited. She needed something as her ability to survive in a harsh world is put at risk by an uncaring bureaucracy.