Entertainment / Sonchiriya movie review: Sushant Singh Rajput and Ranvir Shorey are brilliant as bandits

Hindustan Times : Mar 01, 2019, 12:54 PM
Sonchiriya movie review, Sushant Singh Rajput and Ranvir Shorey’s bandit drama gets a lot right but the slow pace keep it from being a great film. In Sonchiriya, a policeman and a young boy discuss how inaccurately dacoits are portrayed in Hindi cinema. Set in 1975, Sonchiriya tells of rebels and ravines in the Chambal, but without the usual trappings. The laughter here comes from devastation and heartbreak.

Sonchiriya

Director: Abhishek Chaubey

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey

Rating: 3/5

In Sonchiriya, a policeman and a young boy discuss how inaccurately dacoits are portrayed in Hindi cinema. “Imagine,” says the boy sitting outside a rundown little theatre, “this film shows them on horses!” The very idea is laughable to them, even though our cinema, drunk on Westerns, persisted with anachronistic equine imagery throughout — particularly in the 60s and 70s, when daku movies ruled the roost.

Set in 1975, Sonchiriya tells of rebels and ravines in the Chambal, but without the usual trappings. All is hardcore, from language (Bundelkhandi, which necessitates subtitles) to laughter. The one time a dacoit throws back his head to laugh is nothing like Gabbar Singh of Sholay; the laughter here comes from devastation and heartbreak.

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