London. London-based Indian-origin filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s film ‘Santosh’ has been included as Britain’s official entry in the International Feature Film category of the Oscar Awards. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) issued a statement on Wednesday saying, “BAFTA is happy to confirm that Sandhya Suri’s film ‘Santosh’ has been selected as Britain’s official entry for the International Feature Film category of the Oscar Awards to be held next year.” The story of ‘Santosh’ is based on the police of Uttar Pradesh state of India, which also has dialogues in Hindi language. The film revolves around a widowed housewife who gets her late husband’s job as a police constable and gets entangled in the investigation of a young woman’s murder.
Members of the BAFTA selection committee select Britain’s official entry to be presented to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the Best International Feature Film category. ‘Santosh’ is also in contention for the Sutherland Award in the First Film Competition at this year’s BFI London Film Festival (LFF). The LFF will be held next month. This film has been appreciated by many people. The lead role in the film is played by Shahana Goswami. The film has premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
Sandhya Suri said in an interview to PTI-Bhasha, “I am not really someone who wants to make a film to teach someone something. I don’t have any particular mission or something that I want to accomplish. So, I don’t like preachy films. But, what was interesting for me was the idea of a kind of place.” Suri took advantage of her Indian heritage and documentary filmmaking expertise to shoot her first feature film ‘Santosh’ in 44 days in and around Lucknow with the help of a talented local crew. Suri has also written the screenplay of the film.
Sharing her experience of shooting the film, Suri said, “I wanted to shoot in Uttar Pradesh because I am originally from there and I also wanted to film on a lot of live locations. It was very important for me to instill a sense of authenticity. I come from a background of documentary filmmaking and this makes me feel that I am making something real.” Suri was born and raised in Darlington, north-east England. She finds herself constantly drawn towards India.