Pooja, Sir (राजागंज)

Pooja, Sir (राजागंज), dir. Deepak Rauniyar, 2024, Nepal/USA/Norway, 115 min., in Nepali, Hindi, and Maithili, with English subtitles 💖
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 8:00 pm Vogue Theatre

Pooja, Sir

“Inspired by real events.” Detective Inspector Pooja is called in from Kathmandu (the capital) to investigate a kidnapping in the south of the country, where the majority of the population is Madhesi (मधेशी, also transliterated Madheshi), which is to say they do not speak Nepali as their first language. The story takes place in 2015, during a period of considerable unrest. The Madhesi people have historically been discriminated against in Nepal, and the proposed constitution in 2015 would have enshrined that discrimination, removing many protections from the 2008 interim constitution. Because of the protests, the draft constitution was amended to address their concerns, although issues persisted for some time after.

Detective Inspector Pooja has a lot on her plate. She lives with her wife and her aging (and childishly whiny) father. She also binds her chest, wears her hair very short, and asks that she be addressed as “sir” rather than “ma’am.” Despite her father’s bellyaching about her prolonged absence, she agrees to take the case. She teams up with Mamata, a local Madhesi policewoman, and begins to unravel the case, facing also some bigoted actions of some Pahari (non-Madhesi) policemen. One of the boys kidnapped is the son of a local M.P. and the headmistress of the local school. Both parents seem at times more concerned with protecting their own status than with rescuing their son. And there are the sometimes violent protests going on around them, and other complications, but Pooja is determined to see the case through to the end.

I knew almost nothing about Nepali society, and certainly had never heard of the Madhesi people. I knew there was a major earthquake in Nepal in early 2015, but heard little about the constitution or the drama around it. Pooja, Sir provides an enlightening window into Nepal and how gender, race, language, caste, and sexuality intersect. Besides that, it’s also a solid procedural drama in its own right. It’s a must see.

One little detail I stumbled upon in the end credits is that the part of the son of the M.P. and the headmistress, is played by Raunak Yadav. That name is significant because the surname Yadav is Madhesi.

• IMDb • trailer • official website •