Spruha Pednekar

Shakuntala Devi was a remarkable woman and the movie fails to do her justice, in my opinion. The movie has a very uneven pace. The drama involving her familial life is given far more time and expression than her genius and ideology- which should've been concentrated upon much more, given that this is the first and only biopic based on her. It fails it's protagonist, Devi in justifying why she was revered by her contemporaries, to us, the post-Devi generations. It depicts more of Devi's role as a mother than the world class genius she was, which I for one, wasn't very glad about. It skims over her processional life and dives into the personal (which you should know, is based on the daughter's narration). Such works shouldn't be the ones that make first impressions (works that reveal the personal, publicly unknown shortcomings of a personality should ideally be displayed after the works that establish the prowess of that personality, I think). This biopic that's based on a woman, who even though not formally educated, in the 70's, wrote a book on homosexuality, who ran for parliament against Indira Gandhi does not reveal her opinions regarding these matters. A part of me thinks of this film as a means of catharsis for the daughter. It should be named 'Shakuntala Devi through the eyes of her daughter.' I didn't want to get to know the daughter as personally as the film made me and was dissatisfied with the facts provided about Devi. In an interview portrayed towards the end of the film, Devi expresses her wish to be seen by her daughter, also for the genius she is, rather than only the mother, which in my personal opinion, is exactly what the daughter fails to do here (although, it is more the director's responsibility to weigh the inputs). I had wished to, by the end of the film, feel inspired and in awe of Devi and to have a clearer picture of the many bits of information I had about her. But the YouTube videos I watched after the film did a better job at doing that. About the acting- One may find Balan's portrayal of Devi more bubbly than needed. Sanya and Amit did a fine job. However I'm not sure if I can say the same about the director, unfortunately.