|| Shakuntala Devi - Reviews & Discussion || - Page 3

LOVED the movie. I found it really good. The mother-daughter bond holds the film together, apart from her breathtaking genius. Definitely worth watching.

Vidya, another stellar performance under her belt. Absolute magical performance. Supporting cast and Sanya were good too.

Watching this film now, stupid question but they must spend alot of budget while making these films so how do they recover the budget when they release it OTT?

This content was originally posted by: Sailor-Moon

Watching this film now, stupid question but they must spend alot of budget while making these films so how do they recover the budget when they release it OTT?

They usually sell the films to the OTT for a profit that ensures they recover their investment. Like one knows in the industry approx how much would a film starring X actor will earn. Accordingly they set the price and sell it to OTT platform. The only downside is one never knows if they would earn more than what they sold at to OTT if it had released in theatres.

Okayish timepass movie...vidya was fine but in some scenes she went OTT..Sanya was okay.

This content was originally posted by: Sarika12

Okayish timepass movie...vidya was fine but in some scenes she went OTT..Sanya was okay.

That's because its a biography. I mean its based on life of someone, so how many twists and turns we can expect?😆

(Spoilers)

I loved it! The scene where Vidya goes back to her hometown was very emotional and made me cry. She did great acting there. 

Sanya was good, also... Vidya has such a pleasant face, she looked really pretty in many shots especially the last one in the car. 

I'm glad they didn't show Shakuntala Devi as some perfect person but showed how she was flawed yet a very hardworking mother and genius who cared of pioneering about homosexuality. 

All in all it was a nice film, can't wait for more films of Vidya she's always a treat to watch on the screen.

This content was originally posted by: Sailor-Moon

(Spoilers)

I loved it! The scene where Vidya goes back to her hometown was very emotional and made me cry. She did great acting there. 

Sanya was good, also... Vidya has such a pleasant face, she looked really pretty in many shots especially the last one in the car. 

I'm glad they didn't show Shakuntala Devi as some perfect person but showed how she was flawed yet a very hardworking mother and genius who cared of pioneering about homosexuality. 

All in all it was a nice film, can't wait for more films of Vidya she's always a treat to watch on the screen.

Yes! she was shown to be very judgmental and unforgiving.She didn’t forgive her mother, dad, first love, (ex) husband.The only person she went back to was her daughter! :(

I guess these experiences made her who she was- a fiery, strong, self dependent person who can literally breeze through any circumstances in life with a sense of humor! 

Like she says, why would she be normal when she could be amazing! 

Though by the end of it I got confused if I was in awe with the real Shakuntala Devi or Vidya’s sheer brilliance!  For ex, I am not sure if I would be this captured by the real Shakuntala’s recital of the numbers but Vidya made it sound like music to my ears.For a movie on a math genius, it was important for the numbers to not sound mundane and boy Vidya delivered there or what.She made it totally believable why all those people would pay to simply hear numbers from her.I would too! 

This content was originally posted by: Aanandaa

Yes! she was shown to be very judgmental and unforgiving.She didn’t forgive her mother, dad, first love, (ex) husband.The only person she went back to was her daughter! :(

I guess these experiences made her who she was- a fiery, strong, self dependent person who can literally breeze through any circumstances in life with a sense of humor! 

Like she says, why would she be normal when she could be amazing! 

Though by the end of it I got confused if I was in awe with the real Shakuntala Devi or Vidya’s sheer brilliance!  For ex, I am not sure if I would be this captured by the real Shakuntala’s recital of the numbers but Vidya made it sound like music to my ears.For a movie on a math genius, it was important for the numbers to not sound mundane and boy Vidya delivered there or what.She made it totally believable why all those people would pay to simply hear numbers from her.I would too! 

Completely agree with Vidya's performance. She was the life of the film. I do think when you're doing a film on a living person who we don't know much, you have to perform in a way that you completely pull in the audience and she did exactly that. She completely brought in the spirit of Shakuntala Devi to the film. Like someone earlier said, not even one of her maths shows looked the same. She ensured it was different not just for us but also for the audience in the film as that's how the real Shakuntala Devi was. Adding a touch of humour to every single maths performance of hers so that Maths no longer looked a serious subject. 

But my favorite bits in the film are in the silences, when Shakuntala tries to convince herself that what she is doing is good for her daughter but keeps seeing her daughter asking for her dad. How everytime the smile fades from her face when Anu ends up getting excited at the mention of 'baba'. And then chirpy Shakuntala suddenly falls silent in that chat show when she realizes they are going to ask her maths question as she was ageing and had already given up her maths shows and her memory was fading. And finally that breakdown after smelling her Amma's saree. So so beautifully done in the film by Vidya and the director. And also that scene where they showed that she probably used her ex husband as a publicity gimmick to sell her book on homosexuality. 

This is what I look forward to the most in Hindi biopics- show all sides of the protagonist and stop whitewashing them. Just like how Shakuntala was portrayed in this film. She made mistakes but never did they justify that they were made because of someone else. They were all her decisions- good or bad and she herself faced the repurcussions of the same. And for once I was relieved that Bollywood was not telling the story of a gunda mawali don but an actual pride of the country who is still not known to so many of our current generation. I hope Bollywood keeps making films on such hidden gems. We need more stories to feel inspired than whitewash biopics like Sanju. 

A grade acting by Vidya and all the age progressions done so well. I personally love the maths show she does right after having the baby and how she goes ' Shall we see if this new mother's brain is working or not'. Like Justin Rao mentioned in his tweet The Marvelous Ms Balan. ✨ Such a delight on screen and so ably supported by Sanya Malhotra. She was the ying to Shakuntala's yang- very understated but held her ground firmly in front of Vidya. Also very refreshing to see a mother daughter story in Hindi cinema. I really don't remember the last mother story I saw in Bollywood. And also heard in one of Vidya's interviews that majority of the team behind this film were women. So kudos to that.

And lastly, once the film ended I realized how amazing would the real Shakuntala be. That too in the 50's and 60's. Globe trotting, confidently walking in huge halls and performing Maths shows in sarees, getting into politics, doing astrology, writing books on maths for kids and adults, writing crime thrillers and books on homosexuality, I also read she wrote books on cooking for men. And all of this along with being a mother and having internal conflicts with her own family. A legend in true sense. Seriously HOW DO YOU DO IT MISS DEVI? 👏 

This content was originally posted by: insideroutsider

Completely agree with Vidya's performance. She was the life of the film. I do think when you're doing a film on a living person who we don't know much, you have to perform in a way that you completely pull in the audience and she did exactly that. She completely brought in the spirit of Shakuntala Devi to the film. Like someone earlier said, not even one of her maths shows looked the same. She ensured it was different not just for us but also for the audience in the film as that's how the real Shakuntala Devi was. Adding a touch of humour to every single maths performance of hers so that Maths no longer looked a serious subject. 

But my favorite bits in the film are in the silences, when Shakuntala tries to convince herself that what she is doing is good for her daughter but keeps seeing her daughter asking for her dad. How everytime the smile fades from her face when Anu ends up getting excited at the mention of 'baba'. And then chirpy Shakuntala suddenly falls silent in that chat show when she realizes they are going to ask her maths question as she was ageing and had already given up her maths shows and her memory was fading. And finally that breakdown after smelling her Amma's saree. So so beautifully done in the film by Vidya and the director. And also that scene where they showed that she probably used her ex husband as a publicity gimmick to sell her book on homosexuality. 

This is what I look forward to the most in Hindi biopics- show all sides of the protagonist and stop whitewashing them. Just like how Shakuntala was portrayed in this film. She made mistakes but never did they justify that they were made because of someone else. They were all her decisions- good or bad and she herself faced the repurcussions of the same. And for once I was relieved that Bollywood was not telling the story of a gunda mawali don but an actual pride of the country who is still not known to so many of our current generation. I hope Bollywood keeps making films on such hidden gems. We need more stories to feel inspired than whitewash biopics like Sanju. 

A grade acting by Vidya and all the age progressions done so well. I personally love the maths show she does right after having the baby and how she goes ' Shall we see if this new mother's brain is working or not'. Like Justin Rao mentioned in his tweet The Marvelous Ms Balan. ✨ Such a delight on screen and so ably supported by Sanya Malhotra. She was the ying to Shakuntala's yang- very understated but held her ground firmly in front of Vidya. Also very refreshing to see a mother daughter story in Hindi cinema. I really don't remember the last mother story I saw in Bollywood. And also heard in one of Vidya's interviews that majority of the team behind this film were women. So kudos to that.

And lastly, once the film ended I realized how amazing would the real Shakuntala be. That too in the 50's and 60's. Globe trotting, confidently walking in huge halls and performing Maths shows in sarees, getting into politics, doing astrology, writing books on maths for kids and adults, writing crime thrillers and books on homosexuality, I also read she wrote books on cooking for men. And all of this along with being a mother and having internal conflicts with her own family. A legend in true sense. Seriously HOW DO YOU DO IT MISS DEVI? 👏 

True that! I couldn’t help but wonder what an absolutely enchanted life she must have lead.A Legend in the true sense indeed!