Mumbai: Acclaimed actor Vidya Balan says her latest character challenges gender stereotypes in India. Balan stars as Vidya Vincent in Sherniwhich revolves around a forest officer who is trying to track down a tigress creating havoc in an Indian forest village.
"It's not just a story set in the jungle, it is about the jungle," explains Balan. "She's like a nurturer and protector of the jungle, of the wild. Because she is in the forest department. And that in itself challenges the status quo, because we've always seen the man as protector. But she's both nurturer and protector given that she is fulfilling this role. So, I think that was very unique and interesting to me."
Balan says while her character comes across as "passive," she contains a lot of strength. "I realized playing this role that someone like this person can also be very strong because she's a doer, she goes ahead and does exactly what she wants to do in the way that she wants to do it because she's a woman of great integrity."
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"She's almost someone who doesn't want to engage with the world. So, the forest is her safe haven. She, so firstly that's difficult for me because I tend to speak a lot. But this quality of hers of being withdrawn and reserved, I have to connect with the part of me that's like her."
Filming for Sherni took place under strict COVID-19 protocols and the unit got to the second schedule of the film without a single positive case on set. Coronavirus precautions have become a way of life for Balan, who says she's lost count of the amount of time she's been tested for the virus.
"I've got tested so many times because even when you step out for an Advil, even going through promotions because I'm meeting the rest of my team, I'm constantly getting tested. I should have kept a note of the number of times I've gotten tested," said Vidya.
Sherni premieres on Amazon Prime on June 18th across 240+ countries.
