'Sherni' Movie Review: Burning bright

SherniOn Amazon Prime VideoDir Amit MasurkarCast Vidya Balan Vijay Raaz Neeraj KabiRating If yoursquove followed tiger newsstories mdash many of which at least from BombayBorivali by my midday colleague Ranjeet Jadhav also thanked in the opening credits of this filmmdashherersquos what may have amused you in the pastAs with cyclones how each tiger is charmingly named in the impression of humans mdash Jai Munna Maya Pasha Agastya etc So we relate with them as individuals Even if the sherni tigress as in this film has turned into a maneater Although named T12 she sounds more like an airportWhat would the maneater mean in a forest Little if itrsquos not human habitat But for a few urban Tarzans drawn to a life in the jungle Holidaying humans tend to classify themselves as either lsquobeachrsquo or lsquomountainrsquo kinda people Guessing there once used to be an equally popular third mdash the lsquoforestrsquo type Except forests hardly existDonrsquot mean RanthamboreCorbett that Irsquom guessing yoursquove been to Only to excitedly return having spotted tiger pugmarks As a forest officer puts it in this film and unsure if itrsquos true ldquoIf you go to spot a hundred chances are yoursquoll see a tigermdashonce Whatrsquos certain though is hersquos seen you 99 of those timesrdquoThis forest guard among others reports to a newly appointed forest officer in a presumably imagined districtlocality of Bijashpur in middle India Whyrsquos the tiger a menace in these parts Because humans are Given that farmlands alternately separate forests And so you canrsquot tell really whorsquos encroaching on whomTherein lies the conflict without much of a moral compass among everyone involved But for the said forest officer Vidya Balan plays that part Needless to add shersquos quite the chameleon in Sherni Especially if you consider the ensemble cast surrounding her mdash Brijesh Kala Neeraj Kabi Sharat Saxena Ila Arun etc Much loved as they all are theyrsquore really being as theyrsquove always beenWith her Bollywood releases Balan doesnrsquot just repeatedly break the Bechdel Test at large mdash letrsquos just define it as a movie centred on a woman and having nothing to do with men She also finds novel ways to do itIn this case right after the super feisty Shakuntala Devi 2020 shersquos soft yet sincerefirm smartly more internalised as the bureaucrat Vidya Vincent mdash incharge of a forest area that is currently under attack from all ends including desperate powerhungry menThe filmrsquos directed by Amit Masurkar best known for Newton 2017 which was announced as Indiarsquos entry to the Oscars on the very day of its release Newton was set in tribal jungles Dealt with politics that rarely touch subaltern lives but mess with them nevertheless And a battery of bureaucrats and politicians who play dressup in this dancedrama called democracySame for Sherni in an equally subtleskilled way The script by Aastha Tiku in fact shines brightest or bites hardest when pricking holes in people in pompous positions by simply revealing their real selvesThere was in fact a glimpse of that Kafkaesque humour if you may even in Masurkarrsquos debut Sulemani Keeda 2013 which was otherwise a mumblecore movie on movies itself Distinctly recall a debauched Censor Board officer from that picWhatrsquos different here of course are the vistas mdash vast forests with mining on one side and farm lands on the other The visuals scaled up lend themselves naturally to the big screen Which may have been the original planBut itrsquos essential to note here that this is not a creature picture Or a genremovie in general mdash either about deathly anacondas or indeed Mr Natwarlalrsquos tiger fights Kaalrsquos kalakaari at night or Junoonrsquos Rahul Roy turning into a tiger himself There is no scoresoundtrack to throw you off itrsquos miraculously a TSeries releaseIt looks and feels low key The stakes under the surface are way higher though Since it comments on diversity plus ecology with a level of engagement that suits popular entertainment stillThanks to dedicatedproactive work especially in the rsquo60s and rsquo70s from my rapidreading of Jairam Rameshrsquos book on the subject India actually has some phenomenally protective environmentwildlife laws As you can see in this movie they protect the lead characterrsquos concerns rather well too Itrsquos not a lost causeWithout making Sherni sound like a trite old documentary only for already converted empaths which itrsquos not herersquos the precious point the picture makes ldquoNo animal is a maneater Theyrsquore merely hungryrdquo Evidently canrsquot say that about humans Or perhaps can mdash only the collective insatiable hunger isnrsquot restricted to foodAlso readSherni trailer Vidya Balan looks powerful as Forest officer

'Sherni' Movie Review: Burning bright

Sherni
On: Amazon Prime Video
Dir: Amit Masurkar
Cast: Vidya Balan, Vijay Raaz, Neeraj Kabi
Rating: ***

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / 'Sherni' Movie Review: Burning bright

'Sherni' Movie Review: Burning bright

SherniOn: Amazon Prime VideoDir: Amit MasurkarCast: Vidya Balan, Vijay Raaz, Neeraj KabiRating: ***

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Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Sherni
On: Amazon Prime Video
Dir: Amit Masurkar
Cast: Vidya Balan, Vijay Raaz, Neeraj Kabi
Rating: ***