Vidya Balan says she is scared of creepy-crawlies, but that didn’t prevent her from playing a forest officer in Sherni . Newton director ...
Vidya Balan says she is scared of creepy-crawlies, but that didn’t prevent her from playing a forest officer in Sherni. Newton director Amit Masurkar’s new film places Balan’s character at the centre of human-animal conflict. Also starring Vijay Raaz, Mukul Chadha and Neeraj Kabi, Sherni will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video on June 18.
How would you describe Vidya Vincent’s journey in ‘Sherni’?
The story explores the man-animal conflict seen through the eyes of forest officer Vidya Vincent, played by me. This is a largely male-dominated profession, but there are lots of female forest officers and many take postings in the jungle where they are away from their families, alone in the jungle.
It is tough. There are no set working hours of work, though there are responsibilities. They act as the bridge between the villagers and tribals and the forest department. On some days they may have to report to duty in the middle of the night. In addition to these challenges, Vidya Vincent is very withdrawn. She’s a woman of few words but she’s clear, headstrong and passionate about her job. She wants to do the right thing the right way and in any system, that’s a problem because you always come across people who want to...
