Love Sonia (2018) [Movie Review]

Dir: Tabrez Noorani
Starring: Mrunal Thakur, Richa Chadda, Freida Pinto, Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkumar Rao
Dur: 2 hrs
Genre: Drama
Rating: 7/10

 India is one of the hotbeds of human trafficking and prostitution. I can’t really remember a film that documented the horror quite as well as this (from Bollywood, that is). Mardaani (2016) was pretty good but it focused on the cat-and-mouse chase between heroine cop and evil mastermind. Love Sonia doesn’t bother much with villainizing people. It gets straight to the issues of human trafficking, prostitution and the most deplorable, buying and selling girls like commodities.

Set in a remote village of Maharashtra, the film quickly changes the address to Mumbai which is made out to be the red zone. The story takes off from Mumbai, reaches Bangkok, proceeds to the United States and then comes back full circle. The film packs a big load of stars each delivering sterling performances. The highlight, however, hands down is Richa. Not only does she bring the character to life but also brings the drama and terror to life as well. She stands out as a 3D character against the other 2D’s. Mrunal has a tough role as the lead protagonist. She has a lot of screen time and does her best to depict a range of emotions from anguish to pain to numbness. Hats off to the writers and director for making this bold film.  


This is not a film for the faint-hearted. There are scenes which are really brutal. They not only force you to avert your eyes but shut your ears too! The reality is harsh. The film couldn’t go into the details of it but it does well to pitch the general idea across. Human trafficking is a harsh reality of our world. Every day thousands wake up to this degrading reality. You and I might see this as just another film. We will do well to remember that this is what many people live through on a daily basis. If it doesn’t inspire us to join the movement to stop trafficking it should at least inspire sympathy in us. If it doesn’t, you need to get help because you’re probably not normal. Love Sonia might not have broken box office records but it has definitely broken through the materialistic expectations of Bollywood film-making. 

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhTTF13Fhug

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