Director Sandhya Suri’s film Santosh (2024) will be released in India next week. This comes after the film’s almost year-long struggle with the Central Board of Film Certification, which refused to certify it without numerous cuts.

Starring Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, Santosh was Britain’s official entry to the 2025 Oscars. While it was longlisted, the Hindi language film did not end up receiving a nomination.

Sharing her excitement for the release, Shahana wrote, “The film has been shown all over the world; [now] I cannot wait for everyone in India to finally be able to watch it.”

In June, Sunita described the stalemate as an “unofficial ban.” Speaking to PTI, she said, “The makers are trying, but the censor board is asking for so many edits that it’s not possible.”

Santosh follows the story of a young widow who inherits her late husband’s police job and received acclaim for its sensitive handling of caste-based crime.

-------------------------------------------------------

The film has been shown all over the world, starting its journey at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024. I cannot wait for everyone in India to finally be able to watch it.

- Shahana Goswami, actor

-------------------------------------------------------

We all want that the audience should at least get to see the film and what we’ve done in it. The makers are trying, but they (censor board) are asking for so many edits that it’s not possible.