India release of Shahana Goswami starrer Santosh paused at the last-minutae, director calls it ‘a real shame’

The digital India release of filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s critically acclaimed film Santosh has been paused at the last minute. The film was scheduled to release on the OTT platform Lionsgate Play on Friday, October 17. Vertigo released the film in the UK earlier this year, in March. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024 and had a US release in December 2024.

The director has termed the last-minute pause in release as “a real shame”.

The film, starring Shahana Goswami and Suneeta Rajwar, did not get Censorship clearance for a theatrical release.

“The process in India is that the censor board may ask you to make cuts for a theatrical release. The cuts they asked for were not acceptable to me or my team. We could not make those cuts as they compromised the integrity of the film too profoundly,” Suri told Deadline.

“The objections I had to cuts for the theatrical release remain my objections for a streaming release. The streamers don’t need, by law, to have a censorship status to show films. But perhaps this is about an environment in which streamers take on certain objections of their own accord for a harmonious universe,” she added.

Suri acknowledged that, despite no official release, viewers in India are already watching the film through unofficial channels. She pointed out that the pause would further piracy.

“It was announced and now we’re un-announcing, so a lot more people are going to watch it in some other form,” the filmmaker said. “My wish is for the film to be distributed legitimately and uncut in India.”

About Santosh

Santosh follows a newly widowed Santosh (played by Shahana Goswami), who inherits her late husband’s job as a police constable and becomes involved in the investigation of a young girl’s murder.

The film was financed by the BFI and the BBC Film. It was also the UK’s submission for Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards.