Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash
SPOILER ALERT: Movie review of Sherni. Key plot points discussed. If you hate spoilers, bookmark this page and come back to it after you have watched the movie.
Holy wow. What a refreshing change to all the garbage Bollywood has been churning out lately. I watched the movie twice in one week. So let’s break this down.
Plot: This movie isn’t plot-oriented. There is a plot but that is not the point of the movie. When I saw the trailer, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am definitely a plot junkie. I watch movies for the storylines and character development more than anything else. Occasionally I will watch movies for social impact and even rarely for the art of film making. So if I say I freaking loved this movie, then everything else about the movie must have been fantastic. And it was! Basically, the plot is to capture a tigress that has ventured into nearby villages and attacked a few people. It is a race between the Govt Forest officials to save the tigress and hunters in cahoots with the local politicians to hunt it down. Doesn’t seem like much? Because that isn’t the point of the movie!
Technical: The movie is shot like a documentary. No frills or thrills for the masala. It is a slow paced (not too slow), poignantly shot movie. The location is beautiful. It is mainly set in the forests and National parks in Madhya Pradesh. The background score is appropriate, elevates the tension and sets a perfect tone for the movie. Direction seems seamless, I would attribute some of that to the seasoned actors as well. Cinematography is so good! The forests and national parks are gorgeous and it takes skill to capture their beauty and essence without losing sight of the rest of the movie. The camera pans at all the right times and focuses on the various flora and fauna appropriately with the storyline. Lighting is great, especially for the night time scenes. And the CGI wasn’t too bad. They made a great choice of limiting the CGI and the framing of the CGI animals wasn’t centered so that lead to no awkward disjointed characters on the screen.
Casting: No whitewashing, no sexualizing, a lot of diversity, realistic and an almost perfect ensemble! Really can’t say much more than that.
Acting: Vidya Balan is a Rockstar! I absolutely adore her. She may have had some unfortunate movies in her portfolio but she has always been great in all her movies. Her tempered performance in Sherni is one of the best performances I have seen in the last decade. She definitely is the highlight of the movie. Her balanced performance is empowering, sobering and a jolt of reality. She is grounded, subtle and just a delight to watch. She is so beautiful in so many ways. No over-the-top melodrama or heavy handedness.
I really appreciated watching a woman who stood by her decision to not have children and never wavered. The supporting characters do justice to their roles.
Mukul Chadda as the limitingly supportive husband was great. Vijay Raaz’s empathetic performance was like salt in Saag Paneer, bland without it. Sharat Saxena is the saag and obviously Vidya Balan is the paneer.
Social Impact: India has had a long sordid history of extreme deforestation. This movie couldn’t have come at a more apt time. Not only does it deal with environmental issues, it incorporates patriarchy and caste issues. Political sabotage and the fascist state of our country are all prevalent themes as well. Sherni is one of those rare movies that successfully portrays multiple causes without feeling confused or unfinished. Perhaps because all the causes it deals with form a dialectic and intersectionality that can not be ignored. The movie isn’t about providing solutions either, which veers it away from the trap of sounding preachy. It shows the sobering story of reality.
Finally, hurray to no item numbers! Seems like it is possible to portray strong independent women. Who knew?
Across the Ocean 