Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Drama
Year: 2022
Running time: 2 hours 11 minutes
Director: Amit Masurkar
Cast: Vidya Balan, Vijay Raaz, Neeraj Kabi, Sharat Saxena
Kid rating: G
Sherni is one of those films where you watch a story unfold – there is an injustice, a power-struggle – you are sure you know who’s in the right, and of course you side with them, invest in their story, their belief, their courage. And yes, it goes sideways. Corruption intervenes. You wipe away your tears (or tear). End film. You can’t stop thinking about it.
Vidya Balan is competent, forthright forest officer Vidya Vincent tasked with finding and dealing with a tigress which is terrorizing local villagers. The tigress carries off cattle, and the villagers live in fear of their lives, especially late at night in the deserted fields where she is rumored to roam. Vidya wants to go the methodical way, calling in experts, and people who know what they are doing, but the know-it-alls around her believe the bombastic trophy hunter Ranjan Rajhans (Sharat Saxena). Vidya speaks her mind, and finds that plain speaking, while very much required, is not appreciated.
Vidya is a marvel to watch here, an understated performance as a female forest officer, who has to deal with the implicit patriarchy at work (there are comments about how the locals have to deal with a “lady” officer) and home where she is expected to be more homely, embark on motherhood and settle down in-place with her husband; this gadding about in jungles won’t do!
Vidya doggedly continues to do her job as best as she can, but she has to calm down the villagers while protecting the tiger population and the fragile balance of the ecosystem. The government bureaucracy and politics does not help, although she does find unlikely allies is professor Hassan Noorani (Vijay Raaz) and senior bureaucrat Amit Nangia (Neeraj Kabi).
Sherni is another film that shows the sheer waste and stupidity that bureaucracy breeds. It is a pity that our Sherni must bear the brunt of it. Like Newton, Sherni is a tale of everyday heroes at the grassroots level. They aren’t bombastic or boastful but go about doing their jobs well despite the roadblocks their “sarkaari naukaris” throw their way. Sherni is another feather in Amit Masurkar’s cap.
Kidwise: Clean.
