Sonchiriya

Sonchiriya is a 2019 Indian action film   directed by Abhishek Chaubey and starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey and Ashutosh Rana. The film presents a rooted tale set in Chambal. The film was released on 1 March 2019 to very less screens i.e. 720 in India and 220 in overseas circuit, making it 940 screens worldwide. The film had generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot
The story of film is set in ravines of river Chambal valley. It tells the tale of dacoits in 1975, who termed themselves Baaghis, the rebels. Lacchu gives information to Baaghis that a dowry of tons of gold and cash will be given to the bride by her father so dacoit Man Singh (Manoj Bajpayee) alias 'Dadda' should raid. Special Task Force (STF) headed by Inspector Virendra Singh Gujjar (Ashutosh Rana) attacks them during the loot in which Dadda gets killed. This leads to a split between gang. Lakhna (Sushant Singh Rajput) wants to surrender to police while Vakil Singh (Ranvir Shorey) wants to follow baaghi's dharm (way of life) of rebellion. On run they meet Thakur's wife Indumati Tomar (Bhumi Pednekar) with a girl named Khushi whom Indumati's family head had raped. Indumati had killed him to save Khushi and ran away to rescue her and take her to hospital. Indumati's whole family is chasing her to get her killed. She pleads Baaghis to help her take Khushi to hospital. Baaghis agree. Indumati's family arrives and tries to take away Khushi with them. While Vakil Singh agrees to let her go, Lakhna revolts and disagrees. In this melee, Indumati's own child fires a bullet on Vakil's brother and kills him by accident. Lakhna and team along with Indumati and Khushi escape and Vakil Singh vows to chase them and kill. It is revealed that Maan Singh looted 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 only if Lacchu brings Baaghis to that village for the police to kill all Baaghis at once and get reward from the government. Midway to hospital, Lakhna tells Indumati a background story about a curse of killing innocent children inside a room by mistake led Baaghis' whole group being killed turn by turn. And that they need to find Sonchiriya (a metaphor for a 'Saviour Girl') to get rid of the curse. Baaghis meet Phuilya dacoit and she joins Lakhna to save the bleeding girl and take them to Dholpur Hospital. They are joined again by Vakil Singh and gang in the task. Vakil says "to ward off the curse we need to save this girl from death, it is a chance to repent. This girl Khushi is "our Sonchiraiya, our saviour".Indumati son's want to kill her mother but Lakhna confronts and tell the truth that his grandfather was a bad person and father not grandfather. Lakhna and Indumati makes to hospital. In the last scene, 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 been killed by the police at the railway station, as his corpse is loaded in a tractor. Later, while traveling towards police station after killing Lakhna, Gujjar is shot and killed by one of his constables who was earlier assaulted and insulted by him.

Cast

 * Sushant Singh Rajput as Lakhan “Lakhna” Singh
 * Bhumi Pednekar as Indumati Tomar
 * Manoj Bajpayee as Man Singh
 * Ranvir Shorey as Vakil Singh
 * Ashutosh Rana as Virender Singh Gujjar
 * Khushiya as Sonchiriya
 * Jaspal sharma as lachchu
 * Gagan Dev Riar as Khalifa
 * Ram Naresh Diwakar as Natthi
 * Mahesh Balraj as Bhoora
 * Mukesh Gour as Sheetla
 * Harish Khanna as Kok Singh
 * Shridhar Dubey as Badlu Songh
 * Abhimanyu Arun as Balak Ram

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

Promotion
The first teaser of the film was released on 6 December 2018.

The official trailer of the film was released on 7 January 2019. The second trailer of the film was released on 8 February 2019. A theatrical poster of the film was released on 17 February 2019. The film was released on 1 March 2019.

Release
New poster with new release date is made public on 22 January 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.

Critical response
As per Rotten Tomatoes, the film has scored 71% based on 7 reviews with average rating of 6.33/10. 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."

Box office
Sonchiriya collection for opening day from domestic circuit is ₹1.20 crore. The domestic collection of the film in opening week is ₹6.60 crore.

Soundtrack
The music of the film has been composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, while the lyrics have been written by Varun Grover except two songs "Naina Na Maar" (lyrics By Traditional and recreat by Ashok Mizaj Badr) and "The Daaku Anthem" (lyrics By Abhishek Nailwal and music by Ketan Sodha).