sonchiriya

*ing: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey, Ashutosh Rana

Rated: 5/10

If one is looking for entertainment, Sonchiriya is definitely not the kind to be watched. This doesn’t mean that the film is without substance or that there is nothing that it has to offer when it comes to the storyline or how it is told. In fact, the cinematic work of this movie is brilliant as it takes you in a world that one has only read about in newspaper headlines or in movies made on dacoits. Sonchiriya falls into the genre where once dacoits ruled the roost and were feared. So much so that people traveling from Gwalior to Agra would not dare to cross the area after 5 pm and even then they drove the region in perpetual terror of running into Man Singh or Phoolan Devi.

The problem with Sonchiriya despite some fantastic acting by Sushant Singh Rajput and Ranvir Shorey is that the whole dacoit theme appears to be alien for people living in metros. In today’s world, they don’t exist, they have been replaced by gangs that now operate with impunity.

Also, if the disclaimer say that the film is a work of fiction why even have names like Man Singh or Lakhan or even Phuliya? Is it to draw a parallel with the infamous dacoits that ruled the ravines or is it like the disclaimer — it is a mere coincidence? Or is it a movie that just wants to tell a story of the dacoits who battle with their consciousness and dharma? A tad confusing.

Who wins and who loses? There is no prize for guessing. They are dacoits, and we all know how  it will end when they have a cop, played by Ashutosh Rana, hot on their tail with one mission — get rid of the ravines of all dacoits.

— Shalini Saksena