What is the expansion for (a+b)^2? I presume most of us would be able to answer that, thanks to our fantastic teachers & ofcourse, Chacko maash from "Spadikam". Over the years, our nation has been blessed with some of the finest mathematicians that this world has seen such as Aryabhata, Ramanujan, Bose, Rao etc. Another name that also gets mentioned is Shakuntala Devi popularly known as 'Human Computer' & holder of the Guinness World Record for the 'fastest human computation'. Interestingly, an official certification was given to her daughter only a couple of days back, after the feat was achieved in 1980 as the Guinness authority had no such norm in those days. Bollywood decided to pay tribute to the math wizard in the form of a biopic directed by Anu Menon with Vidya Balan playing the titular role. So were they able to do justice to this iconic legend???
The film opens with Anupama Banerji (Sanya Malhotra) slapping a criminal case on her famous mother, Shakuntala Devi (Vidya Balan). So how did the two of them end up in a tumultuous relationship? But to understand that, the director takes us back to the latter's childhood (or rather the lack of it) where we are witness to Shakuntala's gift to solve complicated mathematical problems in a jiffy. Her father (Prakash Belawadi) saw that as a money spinning opportunity & arranged shows where she showcased her arithmetic skills. However, her relationship with her parents got strained after her sister passed away. Armed with an exceptional brain & supreme confidence, she moved to England & made a career out of her awe inspiring talent. In due time, she got married to Paritosh Banerji (Jisshu Sengupta), an IAS officer & soon after, Anupama was born. Though Paritosh was a supportive husband, differences crept in & with time, it took a toll on their daughter as well. So was this the price that Shakuntala had to pay for her fame & legacy???
Apart from helming the project, Anu Menon has also worked on the screenplay along with Nayanika Mahtani & Ishita Moitra based on the conversation that they had with Anupama. This can be said to be the first mainstream movie by Anu, though she had showcased her talent in the past with "Waiting". There is no doubt that this biopic is enjoyable and focuses adequately on the relationship between the mother & daughter. But I felt the screenplay in the first half was rather average, since we are made to feel that she achieved the highs without breaking much sweat. It is as if she just showed up in England & everyone was floored by her talent. Considering the fact that it was pre-Independence, it is inevitable that there would have been challenges like racism and even in our nation, sexism would have been another hurdle. None of these are shown & they try to squeeze in everything be it her take on astrology, homosexuality or taking part in elections. They should have focused on how she overcame these challenges as it would have made the audience value the brilliance, talent & resilience of this incredible lady in a much more meaningful manner.
On the technical side, Karan Kulkarni's score & Keiko Nakahara's visuals were fine and does contribute adequately to gloss over the flaws. Whenever Vidya Balan takes up a role, we can rest assured that she would nail it & it's no different this time as well as she was absolutely fantastic as the protagonist. Showcasing a myriad of emotions, Vidya yet again proved that she is indeed on top of her game even with such sporadic appearances. Giving her ample support was Sanya, Jisshu & Amit Sadh, all of whom have done their parts aptly. Kudos to Spandan Chaturvedi & Araina Nand who essayed the younger versions of Shakuntala.
Verdict: It's surely an entertaining movie that would endear to the family audience. There is no doubt that it has its flaws but Vidya has given a fantastic performance and the mother-daughter relationship which is the crux of the movie has been picturised well. In short, do check it out!!!
Rating: 2.75/5
Regards...Ben
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