REVIEW: SHERNI

Producers-Bhushan Kumar and Vikram Malhotra

Director- Amit Masurkar

Star Cast- Vidya Balan, Mukul Chaddha, Sharat Saxena, Ila Arun,Neeraj Kabi, Brijendra Kala and Vijay Raaz

Genre- Social

OTT Platform- Amazon Prime Video

Rating- ***

Slow but Intriguing!

Jyothi Venkatesh

The feisty film which drives home a poignant message to human beings to lead a peaceful and harmonious co-existence with the animals, begins with Vidya Vincent (Vidya Balan) taking over her position as a new D.F.O (Divisional Forest Officer) in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, and comes to know that a village in the vicinity is threatened by a tigress on the prowl.

The film is a linear way of tracking how the officer who is sandwiched between her duty and the pressures of the corrupt ministers can restore balance in this tussle between man versus wild.

To justify the casting of a seasoned officer like Vidya Vincent, Vidya Balan is shown as a feisty as well as committed forest officer, who has not got a promotion in nine years, takes up a transfer after six years of a desk profile, and is at her wits end, when her new position in the forests of Bijaspur comes with its own set of unique challenges.

To an exasperated Vidya, locating and capturing T12 alive is of utmost importance though it also means navigating through the sentiments of the locals, the pressure built by the politicians, her boss Bansal’s (Brijendra Kalra) attitude who just wants the problem to disappear into the woods and last but not the least, Ranjan Rajhans aka Ponty (Sharat Saxena), an ally of the politicians who calls himself a conservationist but prides himself on the number of tigers he has hunted.

Hassan Noorani (Vijay Raaz), who is a zoology professor and Jyoti (Champa Mandal) who is a member of the village committee are her only solid support systems.

The viewer is at once mesmerized by the brilliant camera of cinematographer Rakesh Haridas and sound designer (Anish John) who manage to capture together and literally romance the dense, green jungles with aplomb.

Though the editing leaves a lot to be desired with far too many characters incorporated into the film including the Malayalam shooting ammachi who comes along with Vidya’s mother in law and husband to the jungle, you can easily hand over to Vidya the crown for getting into the skin of her character of not only the strict Forest Officer but also the sensitive housewife who loves to grow her pet cat and gliding into the various nuances that the character demands, with her effortless aplomb and winning you over as a viewer.

Vijay Raaz as a sincere and hardworking zoologist, comes across for a change as an actor who can traversed any character without getting into any image whatsoever while Brijendra Kala proves that as an actor he is a thorough professional who can justify his character as the boss of the forest officer.

Neeraj Kabi has been wasted in an ill-defined character. Ila Arun also has absolutely no role to show her mettle either as a singer or an actor. Sharat Saxena as Pontybhai leaves an impact as the cunning hunter.

To sum up, overall, on the flip side, though Sherni does not at all have the typical high-on-adrenaline approach one might expect from such a premise, especially since it is set in a dense jungle, or for that matter a cohesive story line to hold you as a captive audience and is slow paced, what saves the film from being dubbed as just another dry documentary is that it has a formidable performer like Vidya as the protagonist, it does leave you stunned for a long time after you watch the intriguing film which is streaming from today on the Amazon Prime Video. Kudos to Amit Masurkar who had earlier directed the film Newton for his deft direction.