Soni Review: Best Indian Film On Netflix, Soni Shouldn’t Be Underrated

Soni

Cast: Saloni Batra, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan

Director: Ivan Ayr

Rating: 4/5

It was early in the afternoon, a young lady, maybe early 20s, was walking down an empty street. Then suddenly a man who was riding a bike came closer and closer to her and tried to touch her breasts when he got the chance. She knocked him off his bike and the Delhi policemen came right after that. The man then got arrested, while the young lady who turned out to be a policewoman in casual clothes pulled herself together and move to another road to continue doing her duty - keeping other women safe.

When watching the scenes unfold, I was curious to know what the young policewoman had to put up with, what she was thinking, how she felt like when doing a job like that. She might have acknowledged that it was a part of her job, or she might have felt herself being violated, or might have wanted to respond with a punch.

Check out the trailer of Soni:

Soni reacted in a strong way, she got angry and will never apologize when faced with sexism or misogyny on the Delhi streets or at her workplace, or even her home. Soni (played by Geetika Vidya Ohlyan) is an inspector who has the duty of keeping the streets a safe place for women, she works alongside with her boss named Kalpana, the character played by Saloni Batra.

The film starts with a scene where an operation dealing with the crimes against the women is carried out. Being verbally abused, Soni didn’t take her time to read his rights, she broke his jaws before her boss could stop her. Soni is offended when living in a world full of gender discrimination and women are regarded as inferior in spite of their achievements. Sexism exists in this world insidiously, at every class of the society.

Although being titled Soni, the film focuses on the stories of two women, Soni who lives in the middle class and her boss Kalpana who got married to a senior policeman. At home, Kalpana is still like a junior to her husband, she is criticized for not having kids although she is over 30 now. Her husband often tells her off because he thinks that she is too nice to be a police officer.

As for Soni, after many years of being abused, she has an angry demon in her. Not being with her husband Naveen, Soni is often told by her neighbours to make up with Naveen, they say that woman is nothing without a man. When Soni was attacked at her own house, Naveen blamed it for the fact that they didn’t live together. A woman who lives alone is an ideal target for the criminals and needs to be protected by a man, even though she is a policewoman.

A friendship was formed between two women, built on the passion they have for their job. The scene when Soni wanted to give up on everything and Kalpana helped her with Rasidi Ticket, the seminal work of Amrita Pritam is considered to be the most emotional scene of the film.

The narrative tells the stories of both of them in the third person. They have to live up to the expectations of the society, the demands of their duties and the cruelty of gender discrimination. The film doesn’t have background music and is shot in a single-take and discreet style. The low-key shooting style of David Bolen made every scene go smoothly.

The film did exaggerate the problems, it also didn’t give an answer. It only depicted real life and made a huge impact on all of us. I think it would be one of the best Indian films being shown on Netflix, but I’m also surprised to find out that it didn’t have a proper launch as it should have. Soni, as well as all of the women, should never be underrated.

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