Shakuntala Devi has been directed by Anu Meon and features Vidya Balan in the leading role. It is a full family entertainer. The movie is wrapped with overt feminism and drama. It is a biopic of an Indian mathematician who tries to balance her growth as a celebrity and her personal life.
Sanya Malhotra is in the role of Shakuntala Devi’s daughter Anupama Banerjee and narrates the story in flashbacks. Shakuntala had won several awards in maths and holds various world records for solving numerical problems in no time. A family tragedy encourages her ambition to become a successful woman after facing poverty in childhood.
Shakuntala is very clear from her childhood as to what she wants from life. She wants to have a normal school life but wants to hold her talent as well. She starts earning for her family from a very young age by doing maths shows around the village. The narration moves on and she goes to the UK doing multiple shows, competing with computers and gaining the title of Human Computer.
During one of her tours, Devi meets a businessman Paritosh Banerjee played by Jisshu Sengupta from Calcutta and her focus shifts on making a family. Many years after their daughter is born, Shakuntala realizes that her life is on stage and returns with second innings. Her conflict then begins between motherhood and ambition and a family drama comes over.
Filmmaker Anu Menon ensures that throughout the movie the audience does not forget that Shakuntala is a maths genius. She also reminds us that she is a sensitive mother who wants to stay with her daughter. While striking the balance between the two her reel journey is quite a regular one.
Ishita Moitra’s one-liners make Vidya’s character question many norms in society. Aadmi kyu, main to duniya kee sabsi badi auarat banungi,’ and ‘Why do men always want women to need them,’ are a few examples. These statements are however never truly reflected on screen. The fast pace of the film is a drawback as well as favorable.
Shakuntala says many big things and achieves them but it never looks like an achievement as nobody knows what went in making it. The story moves very swiftly from not being able to afford medicines for the family to flying countries and buying rich houses. The movie feels so rushed that we forget the beginning.
In the upfront, the movie looks like Shakuntala’s life choices which soon becomes a family drama but a colorful one. The credit for this goes to Vidya Balan. She is humorous, charming and confident as Shakuntala Devi. Balan has worked on detailing and her character changes mannerisms as Shakuntala ages on screen. It is her precision which makes the predictive narrative appealing. The film would have been dull without her.
Sanya Malhotra plays her role well as a daughter who tries to come out fo the shadows of her over-achieving mother. Jisshu Sengupta and Amit Sadh have also done a great job. Even if they have brief roles, their presence makes an impact on the story. The upbeat music and warm colors apart from the cast lifts the film and fills it with energy.
The movie has an optimistic zeal and you never get bored of the characters. It is a happy and enjoyable film which one can watch with their mothers. It would have been better had it been not been limited to stereotypes
