Sherni (शेरनी)

"Sherni (शेरनी)"

Watched Hindi movie "Sherni (शेरनी)". This movie is directed by Amit Masurkar. Produced by Bhushan Kumar and others. Writing credits Amit Masurkar, Yashaswi Mishra, Astha Tiku. Music Utkarsh Umesh Dhotekar. Cinematography by Rakesh Haridas. It stars Vidya Balan, Neeraj Kabi, Vijay Raaz, Mukul Chadda, Ila Arun, Sharat Saxena, Bijendra Kala. This movie was released on 18 Jun 2021 and runs for 2 hours 11 minutes. I watched the movie on Amazon Prime with Aditi, Jayant and Sucheeta on 18th Jun 2021.

Vidya, an upright forest officer, gets her posting after 6 years of desk job. A tigress, named T12, has killed couple of villagers. Two politicians, a hunter and her boss are trying to use this opportunity for their own gains while Vidya is trying to analyse root cause of the issue to find a permanent solution. 

What is at stake? What happens to the tigeress? Can Vidya find a solution? Who will prevail?

The concept is good but execution is pedestrian. It appears as if you are watching a documentary rather than a movie. The story drags on and on. Not enough drama, not enough action, not enough emotions, not enough excitement. The result is an insipid  recipe that you watch with a lot of expectation and become very disappointed. 

Vidya neither looks beautiful, nor dashing. Most of the time she appears either confused or clueless but with good intentions. Can't say she delivers a powerful performance. Neeraj and Vijay are very good. 

Directorial shortcomings? Character of Neeraj undergoes an inexplicable change. Although Vidya gets a field posting after 6 years she tells Neeraj that she got her purse from her last posting. Can villagers support the Cubs and for how long? What was the objective of bringing characters of Vidya's mother and mother in law?

Cinematography of jungle at night is very good and so is that of tigers. The selection of location (jungle) is also good, there's a thick canopy. 

Based on the name one thinks that Sherni is a dual meaning word. One for the real one and one for Vidya. But character of Vidya doesn't portray the fearless, fighter, indomitable lady. It appears like a good intentioned but helpless lady. End of the movie is very suggestive. But at the end of it you wonder why did I watch this movie?

Give it a miss.