Santosh (15)

(Subtitled)

The feature film debut from former documentary maker Sandhya Suri combines gripping storytelling with deft acknowledgement of some of the murkier aspects of modern India.

Shahana Goswami plays Santosh, a young woman whose policeman husband is killed in a riot. She appears to have no options ahead, but the government system of “compassionate appointment” allows her to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer.

It’s an opportunity that grants her independence from her judgmental in-laws and a growing self-respect. Level-headed, serious and diligent, Santosh is instinctively suited to the job. When a scandal involving the murder of a girl threatens to ignite local unrest, Geeta (Sunita Rajwar), the veteran female cop brought in to quell the rising tension, immediately spots Santosh’s potential and brings her on to the case as her second-in-command.

Santosh quickly learns how to lean on innocents, and, as a woman, her police uniform sometimes protects her, sometimes doesn’t — and sometimes gives her far more power than she can handle. Santosh uses this opportunity to go on a personal mission to get closure or revenge for her husband. Unmissable viewing.