Director Anu Menon explains why the real Shakuntala Devi could have been a ‘Bollywood heroine’

New Delhi:

Director Anu Menon says a mathematician Shakuntala Devme, who is the subject of his next Featured Biopic by Vidya Balan, had a larger than life personality and would fit right in with Bollywood. Shakuntala Devi was known for her ability to do incredibly fast calculations and became famous as the “human computer” for her incredible ability to play with numbers. Her genius was first discovered at the age of five, when she solved a math problem for 18-year-old students. The trailer for the eponymous biopic, which will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video from July 31, surprised many with its vibrant tone.

But Anu Menon said his film, much like the personality it tells, challenges the stereotype that mathematicians are serious. “If there was a mathematician who could be a Bollywood heroine, it’s Shakuntala Devi. We like to put people in a box and if something is shown to them that’s outside that box, they’re confused because in their heads mathematicians are ‘serious,’ Menon told PTI.

During her research, the London-based filmmaker found photos of Shakuntala Devi parties with celebrities in Los Angeles. She also got to know the mathematician’s love for dance. “She would party with her friends, dance, drink wine and do dosa for everyone. That’s what she was, ”the director said.

Anu Menon said Shakuntala Devi was in stark contrast to another famous Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. The director said it was only fitting that her on-screen journey received a “larger than life treatment.”

“Shakuntala Devi was the opposite of Ramanujan. She’s been performing on stage since she was five years old. For her, math was a drama. She wore her heart on her sleeves, so everything was so dramatic. So the line in the trailer, ‘we Indians are like this only, drama or nothing’ is there for a reason. We haven’t tried to make it look like a Bollywood movie, ”he says. she.

This is the director’s third feature film, following her debut with London Paris New York in 2012 and Naseeruddin Shah-Kalki Koechlin starred Wait in 2015.

The manager said Shakuntala Devi aligns with her attempt to chronicle women onscreen who are not “a note.” Menon said the women in his films were slightly “right, flawed”.

“I think it’s important to have positive reinforcements on screen. I’ve always been passionate about how to show women on screen,” she said. Anu Menon wrote the story with Nayanika Mahtani with dialogues written by Ishita Moitra. The director said her idea was to show how ‘math can be feminine’ after hearing her nine-year-old daughter say that girls love English while boys turn to math.

“That’s when I thought about doing a story about Shakuntala Devi and found Anupama Banerjee, his daughter, who also lives in London. We met for coffee and the meeting lasted six hours. It was in 2016 and her mother had passed away in 2013, “she said.

Anu Menon returned from the meeting with a new perspective on the assistant and a glimpse into her fractured relationship with her daughter. “I found this girl who was grappling with this great void in her life. Imagine having this larger than life mother, with whom you had a tumultuous relationship … I felt that this is a prospect that we have to embrace… is what made her human, ”Menon said.

After three years of research, watching his past interviews and studying his life, Menon said the team decided to go ahead with the film.

The film tells about Shakuntala Devi’s great achievements and her maternity journey.

“We brought together math and motherhood and that’s the story to see. It’s unfazed because I can’t put people on pedestals, even in real life.

“Most biopics are baggy pieces because of the kind of freedom you get. But his daughter was ready to step into that space. The movie is about this genius who embraced good and evil and lived life without shameful, ”she added.

(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)