Story

The plot of Sherni revolves around a remote village that resides close to a dense forest. They are suddenly grieved by the presence of a man-eating tigress that causes many cattle casualties and it also slowly starts murdering the villagers. The IFS takes this matter into their hands and starts taking action. The protagonist of this film, Vidya Balan, plays the role of Vidya Vincent who was appointed as the Divisional Forest Officer right when a tigress murders a villager in her area of duty. 

Officer Vidya’s team works hard to relieve the community’s fears and create a strategy to keep them safe and sound. Her team also makes sure the tigress’s transportation to a nearby reserve happens without any hindrances. Vidya’s calculative plans could’ve shown visible results but the only thing suspicious in the village scene is the upcoming local elections. The protagonist gets a whiff of something fishy as she is certain that there is a possibility that the politicians and the corrupt forest officials might be colluding. This brings us to the biggest dilemma of the film. Is the reason behind the deaths of the villagers is mainly because of the man-eating tigress? Or do the election candidates have their tainted hands involved with this gruesome case just to benefit their election win? 

Review

Sherni is one of those films that represent a small spec of what happens in the reality. It is truly a captivating film with just the right amount of thrill, dark humor, and real-life horror. Director Amit Masurkar did a splendid job as he orchestrated a twisted and convoluted script with a neat envisioning of the consequences of a “Man VS Animal” dispute. 

The screenplay done by Aastha Tiku was diligently comprehensive as it finely portrayed the calculations of the protagonist’s mind, the corrupt and hideous entanglement of forest officials, and the local politicians at the cost of the villagers’ lives. All while giving us a roller coaster ride of indulging and thrilling movie experience. 

The extended technical aspects like the camera and the sound design by Rakesh Haridas and Anish John were done flawlessly. They had created an exemplary opera of nature sounds and forest visuals that made this movie as realistic as possible. 

The prime theme of the film is to always remind us that, you could go to the forest 100 times and perhaps spot a tiger once, but be rest assured that the tiger has spotted you 99 times. The filmmakers have successfully embalmed this spine-chilling statement into the protagonist. Meaning, since the protagonist is a woman, just like a tigress, even she observes everything that happens around her. Her brave persona and the ill aura of the predator in this film make us question who dominates the food chain. 

Verdict

Sherni is a rip-roaring movie lover’s treat. It is undoubtedly worth your time!