Shakuntala Devi is a biographical film of an extraordinary woman, whose mind was an exceptional and brilliant mathematician. She is also named as ‘Human-Computer’. Shakuntala Devi( Vidya Balan) is exciting and emotionally appealing. Her name was in Guinness Book of World Records. A brahmin girl from a small town in Karnataka turns out to be math genius, making the mark in the global map. She is brave, furious and ambitions for his goal. She is happy being her person, laying out his exceptional skills of digits, making audiences whoa upon her. She finds a partner in her life, Jisshu Sengupta, as Paritosh Banerji ( husband) and becomes a one-child mother. In the film, she says, ‘Jab amazing ho Sakti hoon toh normal Kyun banu? But everything comes with a price. The films take a twisted melodrama ride about a selfish, arrogant mother and an unhappy daughter (Sanya Malhotra as Anupama Banerji) The film also explores how her calculations are not entirely perfect when it comes to her life � but in the end, Shakuntala never loses.
Vidya Balan as Shakuntala Devi justifies the characters. She can balance all the transformation with the age factor. Despite her broken English, she is able to carry on a conversation with the white people. She is a self-centred woman, who can confidently declare her husband is gay because she needs the limelight to sell her book. She is a mother, who forces her daughter to come and live with her even after marriage. ‘Kabhi Nhi Harti mai, always remember that’ She says. It takes an actor like Vidya Balan to transform one avatar to another in an imperative utterly.
The supporting cast is fine. Sengupta works well with Balan, and Malhotra and Sadh, as the modern couple, feel right. The lines are brisk but sometimes astonishing equal. This is truly a Vidya Balan show, and she carries it off, with a gleam in the eye.
The movie is directed by Anu Menon and produced by Sony Pictures Networks India. The film has streamed worldwide on 31st of July, 2020 on Amazon Prime.
