“Sonchiriya”, bollywood’s next dacoit movie?

Abhishek Chaubey’s Sonchiriya, which will feature Sushant in the role of a dreaded dacoit, will also be a tryst with the past.

A 303 resting on arms and cartridges adorning the Khaki attire will be actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s look in his upcoming film “Sonchiriya”.

The film becomes significant not for Sushant’s transformation but for a wholly another reason.
“Sonchiriya” also brings back a genre of film that have always been admired but somewhere got lost and deviated when Manmohan Singh unleashed his own ‘Perestroika and Glasnost’ in the form of liberalization in the early 90s.

The description defines the look of dreaded dacoits who once roamed the Chambal ravines and their very name spelled terror in the ’70s and the ’80s.

It is peculiar to know that Bollywood’s previous rendezvous with the life of a dacoit was six years ago when Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar in 2012 hit theatres after a long wait.

In the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, this was one genre that guaranteed and spelled sure shot success.

While the ’60s was defined by Pran’s unforgettable performance as Raka in “Jis Desh Mein Ganga Bahti Hai”, the following year it was the turn of tragedy king Dilip Kumar to redefine the genre once again with his stunning portrayal of Gunga in the evergreen Gunga Jumna.

No one had a clue that a gun-totting Dilip Kumar would be as effective as a jilted lover.

After the release of Bandit Queen, the number of such films that hit theatres can be counted on fingertips. In the new millennium, it was Rajkumar Santoshi who thought of putting life back into dacoits after the ’90s was captured entirely by urban crooks in suave clothing.

He brought back the element through China Gate and Lajja.

Abhishek Chaubey and Ronnie Screwvala, through Son Chiriya, have only made a feeble attempt to revive a genre which can only be considered as moribund.

The film “Sonchiriya” will be hit on theaters on September 2018.–CINEWS