From the day Shakundevi Devi has been announced, we have been super excited to watch the biopic on the mathematician which stars Vidya Balan in the lead role. Directed by Anu Menon, the movie was supposed to release in theatres on 8th May 2020, but due to the pandemic, the makers decided a direct-to-digital release and now, the movie is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
The film is about Shakuntala Devi (Vidya Balan), her journey as mathematician, writer, astrologer, and mother. The film starts with a five-year-old Shakuntala easily solving a maths sum. Soon, her father takes her for maths shows at different schools and events, and she becomes a bread earner of the family from a very young age. Moving forward the movie is just like an exciting roller-coaster ride.
Shakuntala Devi is a biopic but of course, the makers have dramatised it. Writers Anu Menon and Nayanika Mahtani have done a good job with the screenplay. The film never becomes boring and there’s not even a single dull moment in the movie. Also, the writers have very well shown us Shakuntala Devi’s professional as well as personal life. It just doesn’t concentrate on one aspect of her life, it showcases everything properly. The dialogues written by Ishita Moitra are also quite good especially the one, ‘Jab amazing ho sakti hu, toh normal kyu bano’.
Anu Menon has earlier directed beautiful films like London, Paris, New York, and Waiting. Well, Shakuntala Devi is also a wonderful film, and Menon’s narration is refreshing. The movie makes us laugh, smile, and emotional.
Coming to performances, Vidya Balan is amazing in the film. She is just so natural in the movie that after a point we feel that we are watching Shakuntala Devi and not Vidya. We surely can’t imagine any other actress as Shakuntala Devi. It is clearly an award-winning performance. While Vidya is excellent, Sanya Malhotra supports fantastically. She has given a very confident performance and impresses us a lot. The men in the film, Amit Sadh and Jisshu Sengupta, both the actors have given a wonderful performance.
Talking about the songs, Sachin-Jigar’s music is strictly average. The only song that leaves a mark is Pass Nahi Toh Fail Nahi.
Overall, Shakuntala Devi is an entertaining, enjoyable, emotional film, and with Vidya Balan and Sanya Malhotra at their best, you should watch this one.
Ratings: 3.5/5
P.S. We suggest you should sit with a calculator in your hand because you will feel like solving some sums while watching the movie…
Watch the trailer here…
John Denham
