Soni

"Soni" is a film that deals with gender sensitive issues. Indian cinema deals very less with this subject. The women are either glorified or shown as helpless victims in most of the popular narratives. Ivan Ayrs debut film "Soni" breaks that by staging its lead characters amidst the real world. The protagonist "Soni" a police officer in Delhi police dealing with crimes against women. A warm blooded with anger always on the tip reports to her higher official Kalpana who is completely opposite, full of calmness and capability of judgement. They are in power but still are vulnerable and have their own weakness in dealing with the world of men on either side, the criminals as well as the male police officials. This is a complex idea but executed with such clarity by Ayr. Some of the extreme sequences like handling of youths taking drugs in ladies toilet, top Navy official harassing police on duty, high school girl teased for usage of sanitary pads. These are the threads that the film deals with. "Soni" was screened at Venice in the Orizzonti Competition category.

Hitting , thought provoking and realistic . Soni primarily revolves around the fearless , honest and yet in some sense - gentle lives of a police officer named soni and her boss kalpana who is very caring about her subordinates .

The movie has successfully attempted to show the lives of police officers in a city like Delhi especially the women police officers . The vulgar language , Eve teasing and the harassment that they need to listen , the unrealistic protocols that they need to follow and the pressure and injustice that the suffer from. Despite being highly sincere and motivated , the officers struggle in their system . Soni, on top of her professional struggles , also undergoes struggles in her personal life which takes a toll on everything that she does. Their lives takes them through existential crisis too. The direction , cinematography and acting of the protagonists is extremely brilliant . A few scenes were a unnecessary drag but overall quite good

Implicitly , soni also in a suttle way , talks about the hardships in the life of a women , disrespect and cliched behavior that the men show to women , and the safety of women in capital Delhi

Some topics are better explained with subtleties. "Soni" refuses to demarcate police and society. Beautifully expresses how everyone is part of the same society, even those who are supposed to protect it. And with all the reality, there is an element of hope which makes it a worthwhile watch. One of the best police stories with applaudable scenes shot in one go.

The sad reality of delhi,the raja beta entitled youth and men of today. The protagonist 'soni' and her boss play their parts to the hilt with equal aplomb.everyone seems like a non-actor in the film yet they do full justice to their roles,there is no over the top cinematography or sad songs to show the plight of any of the characters. The screenplay,direction, dialogue delivery and expressions of all the actors are spot on.the camera is totally oblivious.we get to see the other side of the spectrum,ie,from a female cop's viewpoint. The beautiful delhi winters and warm clothes and the change of behavioural conduct of cops while being on duty registering a complaint to being in plainclothes buying groceries and handling an empty cylinder are the small niche things to notice. One can see the improvisation of the female lead when an incense stick falls down and goes out and she hands it over to her ex and reignites it(heath ledger in batman when hez dressed as a nurse and the building behind him doesnt blow up) and when one of her foot gear is acting cocky while shez walking to the patrol cars. There is no overacting whatsoever,the movie is all about the lower and upper middle class and their daily lives as cops in the capital. The story and plot could have been worked on a little to add a little more masala but each script and director have their own take on things and they have done full justice to the same. Its a must watch and highly recommended & one takes home something after watching it.

Right from the moment I landed on the Netflix home page and I saw the thumbnail of the movie. I fell in love with it. Trust me, each and every moment of the movie was like delving deep in the unconscious realms of the minds of the women. The subtleness which Ivan Iyer showed in directing the frames is exceptional. The way Saloni Batra portrayed the mid aged IAS officer, Kalpana is fabulous. she captured the crux of the character. She had the character in her hold or I should she say she became Kalpana. Geetika was so gripping as the hothead Soni who was dealing with emotional voids in her life and society. The portrayal deserves an applaud. She seemed so real, maybe she knew what it felt to be a girl who is frustrated with what society has to offer. I am in awe and love with this movie. Its an extension into the awakening conscious of the filmmakers, actors and our society as a whole.

I wish that many people like Ivan Iyer, Anand Gandhi, Sohum Shah keep on walking on this path and showing us our darkest, corrupt and unjust practises going on in our society behind the veils of our obscure traditions, practices and egos.

A special thanks to Netflix and other production houses supporting them.