REVIEW SHAKUNTALA DEVI

Producer-Vikram Malhotra

Director- Anu Menon

Star Cast- Vidya Balan, Jishu Sengupta, Araina Nand, Sanya Malhotra, Prakash Belawadi, Amid Sadh and Sheeba Chaddha

Genre- Biopic

Rating- ***1/2

Paisa Vasool Vidya Kasam!

Jyothi Venkatesh

Undoubtedly Vidya Balan proves that she is indeed a powerhouse of talent by getting into the skin of the character of the mathematics wizard Shakuntala Devi in this poignant biopic which deals with not only a father-daughter conflict but also a mother daughter conflict very subtly. The best thing about this emotional film is the way the director Anu Menon has not let it slide into being a melodrama in spite of the fact that there is a lot of emotional quotient in the film which will make even a male try to control his tears

The film starts on a promising note with the younger sister of Shakuntala telling her elder sister Shakuntala (Vidya Balan) that she will surely become a big man one day, thus underlining the fact that in the 50’s the mindset was that no woman had any chance to blossom into a big woman. Though the director does not set out to show how Shakuntala becomes a wizard in mathematics though she does not even go to any school, she has brought out the conflict between her father played by Prakash Belwade who utilizes his daughter as a money making machine by refusing to send her to school to study.

Shakuntala does come close to a man, who she fondly addresses as Javier,  but the truth is  that she doesn’t need a male help to prop her up and is happy being referred to as the human computer, laying out her astonishing prowess with numbers, wowing awe-struck audiences around the world for a fee of course. A la Ameesha Patel in the beginning of the century and Nutan in the 50’s who chose to slap a legal case on their mothers, Shakuntala Devi’s only daughter Anupama (Sanya Malhotra) who is more close to her father Paritosh Bannerjee played by Jishu Sengupta, chooses to fight with her mother in court when her mother decides to leave her with no share in her property but end up paying her taxes on the property.

While the whisky guzzling author cum astrologer cum mathematician cum independent mother Vidya Balan is brilliant in her portrayal of the role, Jishu Sengupta ably supports her in the role of her understanding husband. Sanya Malhotra endears herself to you by rendering the right touches to her role as the daughter who hates her mother. Amid Sadh has nothing significant to contribute to his role as Sanya’s husband Ajay. Prakash Belawadi suits his part as Shakuntala’s father while Ipshita Chakraborty Singh gives an able account of the silent and subdued mother of Shakuntala who does not raise her voice against her husband.

The film has been well-shot by DOP Keiko Nakahara) keeping the different periods in mind and Costumes by Niharika Bhasin) through the ages blend in well. The soundtrack (Sachin-Jigar) is peppered with peppy numbers, the one to linger on is the soulful ‘Jhilmil Piya’ (singers - Benny Dayal, Monali Thakur, lyrics – Priya Saraiya).While the screenplay by Anu Menon and Nayanika Mahtani has loopholes, dialogues by Ishita Moitra are superb. It is a shame that the film sticks to the same constructs that in the first place, Shakuntala herself had despised as a daughter and metes out the same treatment to her daughter. Anu Menon , who has earlier directed films like London, Paris, New York and Waiting scores as the direct with her deft touches

To sum up, Vidya Kasam, the film released directly on Amazon Prime Video today ,is out and out a Vidya Balan vehicle!