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.

Subtle, smooth and meticulous. This movie captures nuances unlike most Indian drama movies. It's a slow paced but not at all dry drama about two female cops trying to steer their lives in the system, and patriarchy. All the characters are effortlessly natural. This drama makes you feel sad about our state of society, but doesn't overdo it. Scenes are long and organically merge into next ones with no abrupt context switches at any point of the movie. You may be disappointed if you are searching for some blazing guns. This one is close to everyday reality of female cops. The ending could have more heroic turns, but that could have derailed the natural progression of the movie. So kudos to writers for not giving in to cliche of Hindi cinema, and keeping it simple and tight. It's a very closely knit, no bs movie. If you are from North India, you probably will relate to it at some level.

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.

This is an honest film. The characters portrayed are quite reasonable, life-like and not-above fault. Though Soni is the angry young women of today's age, I even as a man, see myself in her image where some people with character, strength and aggression wants to change this world. Sooner or later the reality sinks in, that this world is like a dog's tale!! Though that doesn't mean you should run away from the reality and don't do your part...Probably Soni also by the end credits realized that truth. Her senior colleague/ friend/ someone who empathize with her - Kalpana also plays a great supporting role, though at times I wished her character should have been allowed to do more...many times she remains just a wife of another senior police officer! Ivan Ayr, should have portrayed a little more depth and color to her role. Anyways great attempt to portray police life with nuance which you can barely see in bollywood over-the-top, over-dramatic and sentimental stories!!!

And IMHO - The scene depicting an issue in Kaplana's niece life could have been more strongly handled...showcasing that for such a natural thing in any woman's life, she can handle that courageously and respond to her classmates accordingly...anyways maybe director has some viewpoint which I may couldn't understand...

Overall a really good attempt.

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