Sherni Movie Review: Vidya Balan Emerges As ‘Superman’ In The Jungle Raj Of Patriarchy

Director – Amit Masurkar

Cast – Vidya Balan, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Sharat Saxena, Neeraj Kabi

Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video

Ratings: 3/5 (three stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Released on Amazon Prime Video, the film ‘Sherni’ surrounds the subject ranging from environment to patriarchy. Between the expanding concrete forests, the shrinking green forests and the struggle of the animals living in them, the interdependence of humans and the environment, and women passing through the jungle of social constraints set by the patriarchal society. Through the journey of Forest Officer Vidya Vincent (Vidya Balan), the director has tried to cover all the aspects.

What Is The Story About?

After sitting behind the desk for 6 years, Vidya Vincent has now reached Bijshpur as a Divisional Forest Officer. Vidya gets acquainted with the new officers with a wide view of the lush green forests of Bijshpur. Along with this comes the responsibility of catching a man-eating ‘Sherni’, who has created terror in the surrounding villages. Villagers have only one area to feed cattle, where there is always a danger of Sherni hunting. Many cattle and villagers have lost their lives in this.

As the film progresses, we see how Vidya tries to maintain a balance in the environment with the help of her team and local colleagues. Vidya says- “No Sherni is man-eater, she is hungry.” Villagers also understand the importance of environment. A village child tells Professor Hassan (Vijay Raj), who has come to instruct him to be alert from the animals of the forest – “If there is a tiger, then there is a forest, and if there is a forest, then there is rain, if there is rain, then there is water and if there is water, then there is a human.” is..”

But there are many obstacles in the way of this mission of Vidya. She constantly fights with poachers, village politics, departmental politics, patriarchal thinking. She is introverted, but not weak.. maybe a bit like a Sherni of the jungle. The Sherni knows its way, but there are obstacles created by humans. At the same time, there are social obstacles in front of Vidya. Will ‘Sherni’ be able to overcome these obstacles? The story of the film revolves around this.

Sherni Movie Review: Direction

Sherni is directed by Amit Masurkar of ‘Newton’ fame. The subject matter of the film was so strong that the expectations from it had also increased a lot. From an infotainment point of view, the film perfectly lives up to the test. But it lags behind in entertaining. An attempt has been made to show the interdependence and conflict of forest and humans, politics related to forests, environmental damage due to development to women passing through the dense forest of patriarchy. The directors have also been successful to some extent. But the writing of the film is lacking. Some scenes are turning out to be spectacular. In one of the scenes, Vidya’s mother-in-law laughs and tells her- “Well done cat pal liya, practice ho jayegi ke liye ke liye.” To which Vidya says- “How practice mommy? My tuffy (cat) is very independent. No diapers, no school feel, no hassle.” On this the mother-in-law laughs and tells the son- “Tumhari wife na bahut tuff hai..” The cleverness with which the director has entered this scene is worthy of praise.

Sherni Movie Review: Performances

There is no doubt that this is the most powerful aspect of the film. Vidya Balan has done a great job in the character of Vidya Vincent. Each of his expressions grabs your attention. Happiness, surprise, anger, helplessness, sadness… through every gesture she connects with the audience. But still we would like to say that the level of actress Vidya is, the director could have given her character a little more strength. However, Vijay Raj, Neeraj Kabi, Bijendra Kala, Sharat Saxena are very much in supporting characters. The director has given proper graph to all the supporting characters, which is played with the most honesty.

Sherni Movie Review: Technical Side

Apart from directing, Amit Masurkar has also worked on the dialogues of the film. Here he is supported by Yashasvi Mishra. Aastha Tiku has written the story and screenplay of the film. The film could have been strong in all these aspects, but the script lacks thrill. This is a film that should reach as many people as possible. In its story, the film wants to say many things related to environment and patriarchy. But in trying to keep it connected with reality, it goes away from the general audience. Many questions, many scenes are left to the audience. Nonetheless, Rakesh Haridas’ cinematography wins hearts. His camera moving between the forest and the village tells the story without any dialogue. Editing of the film is done by Deepika Kalra, which is good. Although the film could have been shortened by a few minutes.

What’s Good, What’s Bad

The film moves in the same rhythm from beginning to end and this is the film’s specialty as well as its weakness. A Sherni in the midst of a dense green forest inside and a female officer in the midst of a dense forest of patriarchy outside. The film is slow and repetitive in some parts, but all the actors including Vidya Balan have done such a great job that you will not lose sight of it. The best part of the film is its cast and its subject. The side that bothers is the writing. Since the subject matter is so great that it could have been made a lot more exciting, but the director has presented it like infotainment.

Sherni Movie Review: Watch or Not!

This film is not Vidya Balan’s best but no doubt it deserves to be included in her finest filmography. You will definitely want to see the film ‘Sherni’, equipped with a strong cast with a straight and clear story. 3 stars to Sherni from filmyhype.com.