"Sonchiriya" Movie Review: Sushant Singh Rajput And Ranvir Shorey To Star In A Good But Not Great Film

Sonchiriya

Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Ranvir Shorey, Bhumi Pednekar
Rating: 3/5

There’s a scene in the movie in which a young boy and a policeman discuss how Hindi cinema has distorted the image of dacoits. “Imagine”, said the boy sitting outside a degraded small theatre, “this film shows them on horses!”. The ideal cannot stop them from laughing out loud. Even though our drunk-with-Western cinema endured with outdated equine imagery during the 60s and 70s, the era of daku movies.

Telling a story of ravines and rebels on Chabal, Sonchiriya sets us back to the year of 1975 without any usual traps. From the language of Bundelkhandi to laugh riots, all of them combines to make it a hardcore movie. The only time when a dacoit leans his head back laughing is unlike Gabbar Singh of Sholay.  It’s a laughter of heartbreak and devastation.

That is how the movie portrays Vakil Singh (Ranvir Shorey), who uses his laughter to challenge the futility of life. It’s genius to translate the word “baaghi” into “rebel”, instead of “bandit” or “dacoit”, but why? The question is posed at the beginning of the movie, “If the dharma of the policeman is to catch the rebel, what is the dharma of the rebel?”

It Needs To Go Deeper

The following parts of the movie are to bring up possible answers. All of them, however, doesn’t relate philosophically or deeply to the initial question. Even when it has been called “the best movie of Chaubey” so far, Sonchiriya haven’t reached the expected depth. In addition to that, the heavy-handed metaphor is redundant as characters are tormented by ghosts of their sins seeing them simultaneously and frequently.

Applause To The Cast

In facts, Sonchiriya is a simple story focusing on outlaws and the runaway. The thrill mostly comes from our actors. Sushant Singh Rajput plays the role of Lakhna, a duty-bound and uncompromising man, who never give up in any circumstances. Meanwhile, Manoj Bajpai is outstanding in the role of a rebel chef who holds up a wedding as a well-practiced professional in breaking the routine. Bhumi Pednekar also nailed her part as a desperate woman on the run.

As a ruthless cop hunting down the brigands, Ashutosh Rana deserves an applause for his brilliant performance. Even though it’s just a small part, Rana has made us feel vital. We need him to be onscreen more often.

Chaubey’s film is like a colourful checker including interesting faces. It can be seen it the bandits from a vaguely blonde one to a guy with Kratos face. The most iconic role belongs to a pint-sized performer who breaks out on screen. (I won’t tell you what part it is but you will know when you see it.)

A Mexican Standoff Inspired Movie

Being choreographed elaborately, the action expresses Chaubey’s passion for Mexican standoffs. In addition to that are the nakedly authentic dialogues which bring in amazing feelings. The film should have been done beautifully with tension but was dragged down at a slow pace. Even when there aren’t any horses, the narrative still is stubbornly cinematic and old-school.

Sonchiriya intends to be about a wild outlaw band who on their way searching for the golden bird. That bird, however, is likely to be more like a goose. Skimming out the topics of gender, caste, politics and religion, the film is a beautiful picture of the desperate desire to come a part of something larger than oneself. Even birds of prey need to pray