It is for us to extend the logic of familiar psyches and locate them in different contexts. But then, what we see are human strengths and frailties. One is tempted to ask if there is an allegorical allusion to jehadis or nationalists in an elusive search of the nostalgic glory of the times when India was supposed to have been a Golden Sparrow. She is also a metaphor for the elusive ideal that everybody hunts in the movie, as elegant lyrics set to Vishal Bhardwaj's music and Rekha Bhardwaj's voice tell us in a parallel narrative of reflection. Sonchiriya is a child who survived rape and must live. In the middle of this tale overly laden with bullet and abuse-spewing men, the focus is on girl-children and women. From Bhumika Pednekar trying to be a bold-woman of lower-caste origin to Ashutosh Rana being the trigger-happy cop and Ranvir Shorey essaying a fierce loyalist bound by unquestionable caste affiliation, there is a casting coup that should be spoken about.ĭid I notice in a comic scene where gangsters and cops check out each other a striking resemblance to Steven Spielberg's Munich where a Palestinian gang and Israeli assassins stumble on to each other amid Greek ruins? Did I see in the cop played by Rana shades of a Tarantino flick with a penchant to show unspoken ruthlessness? Did I see in the play of conscience elements of a Tolstoy? All this in a land that preaches the values of Ramayana and practises that of the Mahabharata. Surprisngly, there is no trademark peacock shot to establish the Chambal legend. A dead snake, a silhoutted crocodile in still waters, and hideaway mustard fields become an extension of the characters. The camera zooms from a distance, towers from above and crouches close to earth to shoot on unsuspecting metaphors that complete the picture. Real characters speak the rustic Bundelkhandi dialect. It is here that the director rises above the ordinary ways of Bollywood to tell us a story with a soul that goes beyond the familiar myth of the fair-playing bandit. These are men who try not to hurt women, children or even the villlagers who have not crossed their paths in their journeys of loot and vendetta. Plots become relatively less important when characters turn loveable. In India's answer to Sicily, the original abode of the mafiosi, the honour of one's clan is a common reason for killing, grattitude and sacrifices are of noble intent and murders carry droplets of conscience coagulating in the nether-minds of people such as Lakhan Singh (Sushant Singh Rajput), a protege of Man Singh (Manoj Bajpayee in a guest appearance). Maa Bhavani blesses cops and rebels alike. There was in them a sense of culture that is part of the folklore.
These were the ones that broke away in a miasmic mix of caste rivalries, socio-economic tensions and sheer toxic masculinity in a land where water was scarce and blood became easy.
The baaghis were not the money-seeking robbers yearning for rich lifestyles. The correct translation of the word baaghi would be 'rebel'. Sonchiriya may be an intended or unintended prequel to Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen, and a parallel to Tigmanshu Dhulia's Paan Singh Tomar, the biopic on the Asian Games athlete who became a dacoit.įrom the Magazine Poverty Porn: Making Heroes Out Of People Just Struggling To Survive Poverty In Bihar: Government Numbers Hide Real Story How Caste Equations Continue To Shape Bihar’s Economic Fortunes A Trafficked Woman, A Young Hotel Cleaner: Poverty’s Children Of Kishanganj Street Diary | A Rickshaw-puller’s Take On Life And Lockdown It may not be a box-office charmer, but is the stuff of historians and cinephiles.ĭaaku movies we have seen before.
#Sonchiriya box office movie
A period movie with a star cast that shines through and production values blessed by the generous Ronnie Screwvala is something that deserves more than the usual treatment from the Friday reviewers.
But then, there is so much in the film that is so understated while visibly showing a breathtaking amount of hard work, that you have to praise and pity the director at the same time. The director's Sonchiriya (Golden Sparrow) may be an understated Beti Bachao film in the year the country goes to the polls with many a slogan to live up to. Blood, gore and bullets, yes, but why is there so much beauty and human frailty and vulnerability amidst all that? The style, decidedly, could be a cross between an Akira Kurosawa and a Quentin Tarantino. The blood and gore have a higher scale of conscience.
In Abhishek Chaubey's world of rugged elegance, gangsters have hearts and bandits have souls.