Santosh

Santosh (2024) is a crime drama from British-Indian director Sandhya Suri — watch it online on iFILM. A government scheme leaves young widow Santosh inheriting her late husband's post as a police constable in the rural badlands of northern India. Shahana Goswami plays her with the particular stillness of someone trying to read a rulebook that was never written for her.

She barely settles into the role before a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered nearby. Senior inspector Sharma (Sunita Rajwar) takes Santosh under her wing — assured, experienced, certain of her own moral authority. The deeper they go, the wider the gap grows between the truth and what her superiors want on record. Following orders is not a neutral act.

Suri premiered the film at Cannes 2024 and the UK selected it as its Oscar submission for Best International Feature Film. Shot with documentary discipline, it's a hard film — one that keeps the caste violence and institutional rot in plain view rather than softening them into drama. Stream Santosh (2024) online on iFILM.