Sherni makes an important comment on the man-animal conflict. It is also a rare Bollywood film that takes up this issue and also analyses its government apathy and red tape angle. It is directed by Amit Masurkar, who gave the wonderful flick Newton. His brilliance can be seen in several scenes. Also, his dark sense of humour comes across alive very well and it keeps the interest going. On the flipside, the film is slow and is too long at 2 hours 10 minutes. The climax is a bit disappointing. Several questions remain unanswered. Vidya Balan’s character could have been a little stronger and also a conventional sherni! But full marks to her performance, as always. It’s commendable how she gets into the skin of her character beautifully. Sharat Saxena gets a very meaty and lengthy role and he’s too good. Vijay Raaz is not playing the funny man for a change and is great. Brijendra Kala is dependable. Neeraj Kabi, too, gives his best but his character’s actions are confusing later on. Mukul Chadda is okay. Amar Singh Parihar (MLA G K Singh) and Satyakam Anand (P K Singh) do well. Gopal Dutt is wasted. All in all, Sherni is a decent one time watch, despite the minuses. This should have been released in cinemas. It’s also a film that should have been shown to school students. The producers could have earned a decent moolah through block bookings. Nevertheless, here’s hoping it gets its due on Amazon Prime!
My rating – *** out of 5!