Vidya Balan’s upcoming forest drama ‘Sherni’ is all geared up for its June 18, 2021, release on Amazon Prime Video streaming platform. You might already be aware that the film is Amit Masurkar’s directorial comeback after the critically acclaimed film ‘Newton’ starring Rajkumar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi.
The ostensible premise of ‘Sherni’ revolves around a forest officer (Vidya Balan) who is sent to capture a tigress. While pursuing this herculean task, she faces challenges from unexpected quarters. Although, on a micro-level, the plot of ‘Sherni’ is totally different but still shares a commonality with Stephen Hopkins’ 1996 Hollywood film ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’.
‘The Ghost and The Darkness’ was a period film set during the end of the nineteenth century. The film revolved around a bridge engineer (played by Val Kilmer) and an experienced hunter (played by Michael Douglas). The duo team up to hunt down a pair of man-eating male lions responsible for the deaths of many construction workers.
The first common factor between ‘Sherni’ and ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’ is that in both these films, the protagonist(s) try to capture or hunt the big cats. Although in the former case it’s being described as an unsettled tigress, while in the latter case, it’s the king of the jungle – in fact, two.
The second similarity is even more interesting. It is being speculated that ‘Sherni’ is ostensibly based on a true incident of the killing of the alleged man-eating tigress Avni, which was accused of killing thirteen people. Similarly, ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’ is a fictionalized story of Tsavo man-eating male lions responsible for the deaths of a number of construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda railway in the year 1898.
However, owing to their disparate plotlines and the principal characters’ apparent motivations, the similarities end here. On the contrary, going by Sherni’s trailer and its official synopsis, the ostensibly multi-layered story deals with the complex issues of conflict between humans and animals. It’s not just about hunting the big cats.
It seems like the film has more to it than meets the eye. So, despite some similarities between these two films, Sherni’s profound and multi-dimensional premise seems to have the potential to overpower the straightforward narrative of ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’.
Sherni’s release on Amazon Prime Video is eagerly awaited by all because of two reasons. First is the compelling screen presence of Vidya Balan considering her repertoire of work in films like ‘Parineeta’, ‘Kahaani’, ‘Ishqiya’, to name a few.
And the equally good second reason is the proven directorial prowess of Amit Masurkar. It will become clear in a few days whether the film can live up to its high expectations or not.
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