Sonchiriya


Sonchiriya is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language dacoit Western film co-written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey, starring Manoj Bajpayee in a guest appearance, Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Ashutosh Rana and Ranvir Shorey. The film presents a rooted tale set in Chambal. Its dialogues are entirely in the Bundeli dialect.
The film was released on 1 March 2019 in 940 screens worldwide, with 720 screens in India and 220 in overseas regions. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances, direction, writing, cinematography and visual styles.

Plot

Set in the ravines of the Chambal valley, the film tells the tale of dacoits in 1975, who termed themselves Baaghis, the rebels.
Lacchu gives information to the Baaghis that a dowry of tons of gold and cash will be given to the bride by her father so Dacoit Maan Singh a.k.a. 'Dadda' should raid it. Special Task Force headed by Inspector Virendra Singh Gujjar attacks them during the loot in which Dadda gets killed. This leads to a split between the gang. Lakhna wants to surrender to the police, while Vakil Singh wants to follow Baaghi's dharm of rebellion.
On the run, they meet a woman with her young sister, whose family has been killed by rival gang and seeks their assistance to take her sister to hospital. As the visit the doctor at night, police raids the doctor's house. Baaghi's find out that the young girl belongs to untouchable caste. Lakhna blows the wall of house with gas cylinder and they all escape in a truck. Vakil initially does not let the woman on truck but when she tells her name Indumati Toomar and her village, he lets her climb.
Reaching their next stop, Indumati's family arrives, including his husband and teenage son and tries to take both of them away. At the same time, Vakil Singh agrees to let her go, as he is the one who sent for them. Indumati reveals that she killed her father in law because he had been raping Sonchiriya and had put her life in risk. Lakhna revolts and disagrees, he takes Vakil's brother as hostage. In this melee, Indumati's son kills Vakil's brother. Lakhna and the team, along with Indumati and Sonchiriya, escape and Vakil Singh vows to hunt them down and kill them all.
While crossing the Chumbal River, Lakhna tells Indumati a background story about a curse of killing innocent children inside a room by mistake which led to the Baaghis' whole group being killed one by one. They need to find Sonchiriya to get rid of the curse. In order to reach hospital, Lakhna and group captures an influential person, whom they present to Mallah gang's head Phuilya. After killing him Phuilya helps gang through but they are ambushed at ruins by police.
Vakil Singh finds out that Maan Singh looted the dowry house to save Lacchu's father from inspector Gujjar knowing very well that it was a trap to kill them. Gujjar had taken him hostage and promised to free him only if Lacchu brings Baaghis to that village for the police to kill all Baaghis at once and get the reward from the government.
Vakil arrives with his gang at the ruins and help Lakhna escape with Indumati and Sonchiriya. Lakhna is shot in abdomen but he tried to get the girls to hospital but they are confronted by Indumati's son who wants to kill his mother to avenge his grand father. Lakhna tells him that his grandfather raped his mother and was his biological father.
While the girl is being hospitalized, Lakhna, who, being chased by Gujjar, was hiding behind the tree, comes out to surrender as his task of saving Sonchiriya was finished. But by the curse, Lakhna is shot dead by Gujjar.
In the aftermath, it is revealed that Vakil Singh has actually been killed by the police at the railway station, as his corpse is loaded in a tractor. Later, while traveling towards the police station after killing Lakhna, Gujjar is shot and killed by one of his Thakur constable whose uncle was earlier assaulted and insulted by him.

Cast

Production

The principal photography for the film began on 19 January 2018 in Chambal. On 1 April 2018, the shoot was wrapped up.

Soundtrack

The music of the film has been composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, while the lyrics have been written by Varun Grover except one song, "Naina Na Maar".

Release

The film was released on 1 March 2019. Unlike Udta Punjab, Abhishek Chaubey has a smooth ride with Sonchiriya as CBFC retains most of the abuses. British Board of Film Classification has certified the film with runtime of 143 minutes and the film is set for release. The film was released on 1 March 2019 to 720 screens in India and 220 screens in overseas circuit, making it 940 screens worldwide. The leading actor Sushant Singh Rajput was disappointed that many theaters used unofficial dubbed version of the movie.

Reception

Critical response

As per Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of based on reviews with an average rating of. Raja Sen reviewing the film in Hindustan Times rated the film with three stars out of five. He liked the lead cast in role of bandits but feels that the slow pace kept the film from becoming a great film. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it three and half stars out of five and praising the acting of the whole cast he says "Cast Live And Breathe Their Roles". Renuka Vyavahare writing for The Times of India gave three and half stars out of five and writes "Gripping, tense and unpredictable, despite being a slow-burn western, Chaubey's period thriller makes for a riveting watch." Taran Adarsh giving three and half stars out of five feels that it is a very well-made film but caters to a niche audience. Anupama Chopra of Film Companion gives three stars out of five and summarize the review as "A Stunningly Shot, Masterfully Staged Fusion Of Caste, Violence And Jungle Law."