Bringing the math wizs story to screen, Vidya Balan on how upcoming release Shakuntala Devi challenges the idea of self-sacrificial mother propagated by films.
A still from Shakuntala Devi
On turning 40 last year, Vidya Balan had famously said in an interview that she wants to focus on loving her life in this all-important decade. It is not surprising then that Shakuntala Devi's zest for life strongly resonated with her. "We both know how to laugh our heart out. When Anu [Menon, director] came to me, I assumed it's the story of the math wiz, but with the script, I unearthed the person behind the genius. She lived her life on her own terms. She wanted to reach for the stars and did not want to be made feel guilty about being an overachiever," marvels Balan, who brings the story of the 'Human Computer' on celluloid with Shakuntala Devi.
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The actor — who has shattered many a stereotype with her films — remembers how at the Mumbai Film Festival press conference, a few years ago, she had expressed her desire to change the way mothers are portrayed on screen. With the Amazon Prime Video offering exploring Devi's blow-hot-and-cold equation with daughter Anupama, she is proud to have walked the talk. "Women are conditioned to believe that once they embrace motherhood, it's the be-all and end-all of their existence. But Shakuntala loved the fame, the money and her shows [that took her] around the world. Her child couldn't fathom why she needed to be a genius instead of being a 'regular' mother.
There's nothing wrong with a child wanting to be the centre of her mother's world, but this story depicts how women need to be the centre of their own world."
Biopics tend to be designed as underdog stories, but the actor knew that the magic of her muse lay in her flamboyance. "I was clear that she isn't an underdog. We never wanted to play down her swag. She wrote a book on homosexuality and petitioned to decriminalise 377, way back in 1977." It was widely reported that Devi's husband, Paritosh Banerji, was closeted homosexual. Acknowledging that the biopic addresses it all, Balan says, "She scripted the narrative of her life, we have painted it in all its glory."
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