INTERVIEW | Sherni was an eye-opener on Human-animal conflict: Vidya Balan 

Vidya Balan discusses her new film, Sherni, in which she plays a female forest officer in Central India
Vidya Balan in a still from the film Sherni. (File Photo)
Vidya Balan in a still from the film Sherni. (File Photo)

Script choice, to Vidya Balan, is now second nature. Even when she errs Shaadi Ke Side Effects, Kahaani 2 they are hard, fascinating choices. Her latest seems almost destined to succeed: a team-up with Amit Masurkar, the director of Newton (2017), and a film about a female forest officer in Madhya Pradesh. Premiering on Amazon Prime Video, Sherni is a Vidya vehicle all through heck, they didn’t even change her name.

“My character’s name is Vidya Vincent. Introverted and reserved, she is not the kind who will fight back, which makes her task as a forest officer all the more challenging,” shares Balan, adding that playing such a character was an ‘eye-opener’ as it got her in touch with a part of the environment she wasn’t entirely aware of.

Working on the film, she came to recognise the intricacies of wildlife and conservation.

“As a performer, to get deep into the skin of Vincent, I had to undertake an approach of acting and speaking through my expressions and silences,” she adds.

Before Newton, Masurkar had helmed Sulemani Keeda (2013), a comedy about two screenwriter friends in Mumbai, and Balan admired his work in Newton.

WATCH TRAILER:

On the trail of a man-eating tigress, Balan’s character encounters many adversaries. Predictably, most of them are human.

The trailer shows her fending off sexist barbs while striving for a ‘balance’ in the human-animal conflict.

“Sherni presents a deeper insight into the man vs wild conflict,” she says, adding that humans must recognize, appreciate and work towards strengthening the ecological balance.

“Honestly, before this film I didn’t think like that. So, this is a huge departure from the way I felt about the animal world or wildlife. The film educated me on the impact our activities have on wildlife, and made me realise that striking a balance is an absolutely need of the hour,” she says.

Shooting, of course, was another thing. The film had gone on floors in March last year. After the first lockdown, production was halted, resuming again in October.

In addition to safety protocols, the dense jungles demanded intense caution, “which was challenging but thrilling as well”.

“I’ve been on quite a few safaris on vacations, and even the thought of being around the crawlies would make me uncomfortable. But during Sherni in the jungles of Madhya Pradesh, I stayed in a tent during the first schedule, which was an amazing experience. I enjoyed walking in the forest. As it was summertime it wasn’t very green, and I felt safer walking on my own,” says the actor.

Sherni is Vidya’s second straight-to-digital release in the pandemic. Her last film, Shakuntala Devi, also premiered on Amazon Prime Video.

“Having a release in these times is nothing short of a blessing and I’ve had two of those,” she says.

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The New Indian Express
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