Divya
Vidya Balan has starred in what we feel is one of her best performances over the years.
‘Sherni’, directed by Amit Masurkar, talks about a world where it’s man against animals.
Directed by: Amit V. Masurkar
Run Time: 2h 10min
Ratings: 4.5/5
Cast: Vidya Balan, Vijay Raaz, Neeraj Kabi, Sharat Saxena
Storyline
‘Sherni’ as the title suggests talks about a tigress, named a beast by civilians. The Vidya Balan film is a smart purview of what happens within the boundaries of a forest inhabited by people and fauna both. Vidya Vincent (Balan) is a Divisional Forest Officer whose main motive is to steer as far away from corruption as possible and rescue wild tigers. The dilemma occurs when farmers who graze their cattle in the nearby forest land come across a tigress who kills their calves. The fully grown tigress has caused distress to the entire village when more deaths take place, this time, of the people themselves.
Without proof of the tigress and her two little cubs being man-eaters, there is a whole hunting party set off to capture the beast. With her pawprints being tracked and guns all set to fire, the animal’s life is on the line while her little cubs obliviously follow her in hunger.
What We Think
The story can be seen from two different perspectives. One is that of the civilians who have lost families to animal attacks and the other is the plight of animals whose homelands we, humans, have stolen. The film resonates with the story of Avni (T1), a tigress who was shot dead in 2018 leaving her two cubs behind. She was said to be a man-eating beast and was believed to be responsible for the killings of 13 people. The tigress’ death was followed by multiple protests and eventually was called a trophy killing stunt.
Vidya Balan performed to her best as Vidya Vincent. Her strong and determined character was not missed. The emotional performance was moving enough to make us, the audience, feel every sentiment she portrayed. Vidya hits a compromising stone where she has to lay her fingers down in front of the more powerful authority but being the bold character she is, she doesn’t leave without the last word.
Another commendable character was that played by Vijay Raaz. Not only is he Vidya’s constant support in the film but he also narrates his side of the story in a very passionate way.
Hit or Miss
We definitely recommend this movie! Apart from many stellar performances, the moving story is unmissable!
