The first thought I had while watching Sonchiriya is that I should have seen this in the theaters. From director Abhishek Chaubey who gave us the excellent Udta Punjab we get another gritty realistic tale on bandits, in the heartland of India. Aesthetically what really struck me was the fact that this film looked and felt like a western. It has many moments that you would find in a western. A fine example of this is the Mexican standoff that takes place when Sushant Singh Rajput’s character splits from his gang. These moments are framed brilliantly by Anuj Rakesh Dhawan. The ravines of Chambal are shown in all their glory. We get a sense of how these bandits use their surroundings, sometimes it is an advantage but other times it causes their downfall.
One of Chahubey’s strengths is the way he writes his dialogues. The characters feel like they are talking on their own and not like they are reading from a piece of paper. The other reason this works is because of the incredible cast. When you have heavyweights like Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey and Ashutosh Rana, it can be difficult to keep up with them. But Sushant and Bhumi Pednekar pull of amazing performances that match up to the rest. Bhumi has less action than the men but her actions make her among the strongest characters in Sonchiriya.
Despite how grim the circumstances are, Sonchiriya throws in some humor every now and then and it works. The moment where a bandit on the run wonders if he’ll get to eat mutton in jail is one such instance. If there’s one takeaway from the film, it is that all of us will fall prey to the law of nature. It doesn’t matter which level of society we are in, nature comes for us all. Sonchiriya works on multiple levels. It works as an action film about bandits with some spectacularly choreographed shootouts. It works as a commentary on the class difference that existed then and exist now as well. And it works as a commentary on the way men and women are perceived. One of my favorite lines is when Phuliya, the leader of another gang tells Bhumi’s character:
“Men created all these castes to separate themselves but women have only one caste. We are all below them (men).”
I’m paraphrasing a little bit but I think I’ve captured the spirit of what she said. When I heard this, it hit me like a bolt of lightning. I am amazed at the fact that writers Chaubey and Sudip Sharma were able to come up with this much depth. Sonchiriya had everything to succeed commercially, a successful director, a killer cast and most importantly, it was an incredible film. But it didn’t do too well at the box office and that is disappointing. But more than anything, I am happy with the fact that such a film exists. Sonchiriya is a rare film, in that it is a slow-burn thriller that sometimes becomes a race against the clock. With a subject like this, it would have been easy to go down the Mad Max: Fury Road way but the approach here works much better. The characters take some time to reflect on what has happened. Even the minor characters are given their own motivations and feel like real people. I can keep talking about Sonchiriya but I think I’ve said all that I wanted to say. To you, all I would like to say is, watch it and be amazed at what Indian cinema is capable of.
Until next time, bye.
Films & Frames 