The Central Board of Film Censorship of India has blocked the release of Santosh, a critically acclaimed film, which has been written and directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri. The film made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival and was the UK’s official entry for the Oscars’ international feature category. Santosh was also nominated for a Bafta for Best Debut Feature 2025.
Mike Goodridge, the film’s producer said Santosh is stuck in censorship limbo in India. He highlighted that the Indian censor (CBFC) has requested certain changes that the filmmaker and cast are not happy with. Santosh has not received certification clearance from the CBFC despite having secured script approval to shoot in India and the Indian government’s production incentives.
Suri described the censorship as disappointing and heartbreaking. She said it took them by surprise because they didn’t feel the issues highlighted in Santosh were not new to Indian cinema. The filmmaker shared that the censors demanded a list of radical cuts so lengthy and wide-ranging that they would be impossible to implement.
Suri said it was important for her that the film be released in India. “I did try to figure out if there was a way to make it work, but in the end, it was just too difficult to make those cuts and have a film that still made sense, and stayed true to its vision.”
Shot in India, Santosh portrays the murkier elements of the Indian police force, spotlighting deep-rooted misogyny, discrimination against Dalits, and the normalization of mistreatment and torture by police officers. It also touches on the issue of sexual violence, particularly against lower caste women, and the anti-Muslim prejudice in the country.
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Santosh, starring Shahna Goswami, Sunita Rajwar, and Nawal Shukla, among others, is about a young widow who joins the police force and probes the murder of a young Dalit girl. She inherits her dead husband’s position as a police constable in rural north India and becomes involved in investigating the murder of an underage girl.
Shahana Goswami plays the role of the young widow. She shows how Santosh is smart and industrious, yet biddable and she can deal with the problem that male officers are too fastidious to handle – a female corpse. Goswami showcases her quiet pride and suppressed euphoria in her uniform which lets her walk the streets in a new confident way.
