'Sherni' director Amit Masurkar: Unethical to use animals in captivity

Vidya Balan in a still from `Sherni`

After the widely acclaimed 'Newton' (2017), director Amit Masurkar's next, 'Sherni', comes bearing the weight of expectations. It is evident that the filmmaker means business as he highlights another urgent subject - the man-animal conflict - through the drama. "The philosophy behind the film is that one person cannot bring about change. Conservation is a community effort. To destroy nature is easy, but to build or sustain it requires effort from a lot of people. So, if you look at the film, it is not hero-driven. It sees the [protagonist] listening to people and learning from them," says the director.

Headlined by Vidya Balan, the Amazon Prime Video offering takes us through the journey of forest officer Vidya Vincent who believes in wildlife conservation. Given the story's central theme, shooting with animals posed a moral dilemma for Masurkar. "Many film crews shoot with tigers in Thailand where it's easy to get permissions, but we decided against it. We were making a film about [wildlife] conservation, so it would have been unethical to use animals in captivity. Instead, we roped in a VFX company that specialises in [creating] sequences of wild animals."

Amit Masurkar

For Masurkar, Balan is the perfect choice to play the silent but steely forest officer. "Vidya Vincent is written as a layered character, and we needed someone who could do justice to it. Vidya was ready to put in that extra effort. Plus, we needed an actor who is rooted and humble as we were working with many non-actors."

Also Read: 'Sherni' trailer: Vidya Balan looks powerful as Forest officer