Where is Shakuntala Devi in Shakuntala Devi? Film Review

July 31, 2020 0 Comments

Watching a Hindi movie online premier at 12 am in the night is not a joke. Watching/making a movie on the life and times of a legendary genius like Shakuntala Devi is not a joke. And if the movie is a biopic on the life of a woman who was fondly known as a supercomputer, and is backed by a beautiful, original actress like Vidya Balan, then movie dekhna toh bahut hi banta hai!

A joke to yeh Hua ki you made a biopic on a world-renowned achiever, a human-computer who also did astrology and a pioneer in homosexual movement but you end up watching a regular movie with a central story of a career-oriented mom and her relation with her daughter. Yes this movie is less about life and times of Shakuntala devi but is more of her sweet bitter relation with her daughter and that my friend do not mind is a bad joke for an audience like us.

Shakuntala Devi as some of you may not know is a world-famous mathematician who could do complex math calculations within seconds. One of her genius included doing the 23rd root of a 201digit numbers in10seconds.

Unfortunately Maths was not the highlight of this movie. It was mere a prop like the leading male actors, just a part of the story that should have been the censtrage. The scenes depicting her journey lacked soul and drama they deserved. I feel more emphasis was given to costume, dressing, set ups and over the top portrayal of Vidya Balan.

Not that am not a maths fan but this movie lost that opportunity to inspire and ignite and peep in the world of shakuntala devi. Instead the movie focussed on her relationships and that too superficially. Unlike super 30 which was touted a bad choice for a greek god looking Hrithik Roshan to play the role yet he excelled in spite of critics finding flaws in his diction. The movie could have been intelligent like super 30 that weaved all elements beautifully and unexpectedly. But it is nowhere super 30.

While we went to watch super 30 with great expectation [it is one of the finest movies thus far mind you] , we had some how managed expectations with this movie. When I heard a film is made on SD's life with Vidya Balan, I was far too excited. When I saw the trailer, I consoled myself that film would be better than the insipid trailer. When I was watching the movie, I felt ki abhi the movie will come to elements and all this is building blocks. Unfortunately, that moment never came. However the second half was way lot better the caricaturish first half.

I was surprised to see Vidya balan looking the same from her first scene as a young women doing a maths show till her appearance in that M mascara show. Only thing that changed in her was the hair and styling. I felt as if am watching a mix of Silk from Dirty picture and Sullu from Tumhari sullu.


Isse Achcha Aamir Khan ya saif ali khan could have done this film dressed as a woman. Not for the acting part but the age transformation bit at least.


No I like Vidya Balan a lot and was full gaga over her silk and sullu [even tday] but as Shakuntala devi, it failed to create an impact beyond caricature.

Caricature is the word for the film. Including Sania Malhotra who with her out of place wigs looked out of place. you know the feeling when instead of the characters, the sore makeup or appearance takes the centre stage? it was that feeling!

Another problem of the movie was it was way too stuffed. I have no thrills on women telling women story. I would be glad to see women telling men story and vice versa. That would be something constructive for me. The storytelling should be good. And thats what I missed in this movie. Maybe my imporessions will change when I watch the movie again.

Too many women empowerment notions were lazily stitched that it looked more like a forced patchwork.

Somehow I felt that the movie trivialized Shakuntala Devi and was a bad marketing gimmick. had been this movie on Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, I could have understand this angle of a popular mother child relation. come on tell us fiorst more Shakuntala devi the genuis we all heard of then her flaws. We signed for something else.

The opening scene is cliche and made me wonder if the film should be renamed as Ma.

Jisse bhi pyar kiya maine, meri maa nemujhse china hai? aye movie mein toh nahi dihaya?