A story of violence and its consequences that is worth a watch.
The cast of Sonchiriya live and breathe their roles.
Sonchiriya stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Bhumi Pednekar and the director of the movie is Abhishek Chaubey. The screenplay is by Sudip Sharma and the camerawork is by Anuj Rakesh Dhawan and the editing is by Meghana Sen. Sound design and background score is by Benedict Taylor and Naren Chandavarkar.
The movie is set in the rusty and harsh ravines of Chambal in 1970. The movie does not glamorize fugitives and is not unrealistic. Their weapons are merely functional and when an arms smuggler offers them better weapons, the chief of the dreaded gang does not have any money to buy them.
The people in the movie have a conflict going inside them. On one hand, they talk about their sorry plight because of which they have had to rebel against the society who cast them aside and on the other hand they dream of a life of normalcy, after they have surrendered and served their prison terms and its aftermath. The involuntary bloodbath that they caused in Gujjar village haunts the dacoits, defining their subsequent acts of desperation and redemption.
This is also a place where rape and repression are rampant and women suffer a lot of violence here.
This film explores the themes of guilt, fear and expiation and also talks about the political situation of the time.
Sonchiriya is a movie with a strong script, is well executed and is a delight to watch.