Shakuntala Devi (film)


Shakuntala Devi is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Anu Menon and produced by Sony Pictures Networks India and Vikram Malhotra under his banner Abundantia Entertainment. The film stars Vidya Balan as Shakuntala Devi, who was also known as the "human computer" along with Jisshu Sengupta, Sanya Malhotra and Amit Sadh.
Principal photography began on 16 September 2019 and was wrapped up on 20 November 2019. The film was scheduled to be theatrically released in India on 8 May 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was streamed worldwide on 31 July 2020 on Prime Video.

Cast

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was not released theatrically and streamed on Amazon Prime Video worldwide on 31 July 2020. Vidya Balan expressed her delight on social media platforms regarding the release of the film on over-the-top media services.

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Sachin–Jigar while lyrics written by Vayu and Priya Saraiya.

Critical reception

The film opened to generally positive reviews from critics.
Prabal Sinha from Tuk Tuk TAWA gave four out of five star and said " Its a Vidya show, she scores again with her magical charismatic acting. A well made family entertainer". Sreeparna Sengupta of Times Of India gave three and half stars out of five and said, "A joy to watch simply to soak in the fascinating life and times of the maths whiz - a human computer faster than an actual computer, the free-spirit, who was all that and so much more!" Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express rated the movie 3/5, calling it "a Vidya Balan show". Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV opined "the numbers add up nicely with a feisty Vidya Balan", giving the movie 3/5. Komal Nahta of Film Information said, "A fair entertainer but it is more for the classes than the masses and more for the ladies audience than the males." Mike McCahill of The Guardian gave three stars out of five & said, "The movie finds funny ways of dramatising the process whereby one generation of women squares its frustrations with another – but it adds up to spirited, intelligent, authentically feminist entertainment."