'Shakuntala Devi' director Anu Menon on how Vidya Balan cracked the mathematician's role

Shakuntala Devi stars Vidya Balan in the titular role along with Sanya Malhotra, Jisshu Sengupta, Amit Sadh, Prakash Belawandi, and others. It is a biographical film directed by Anu Menon. Vidya received appreciation for her performance as the ace mathematician. Now Anu disclosed how the actor donned the real-life character.

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Anu Menon on how Vidya Balan aced Shakuntala Devi’s character

In a recent interview with ANI, director Anu Menon shared behind-the-scenes details on how Vidya Balan got into her character as Shakuntala Devi. She said that if someone makes a film on a mathematical prodigy, it is but expected to show how she would solve math problems. The filmmaker revealed that Vidya Balan made it a point to understand the working of “each math problem” drafted in the script. Anu mentioned that the actor devised a “sing-song method” to learn the 17 and 21 digit numbers, and she could tell the answer to any question in the script within 15 minutes. Maybe it “really was the spirit of Shakuntala Devi” that guided Vidya, noted Anu Menon.

Also Read | Anu Menon On Shakuntala Devi's Success: 'Thrilled And Overwhelmed With The Love'

Shakuntala Devi Cast

Vidya Balan plays the lead character of Shakuntala Devi in the film. It features Dangal fame star Sanya Malhotra as her daughter, Anupama Banerji. Jisshu Sengupta plays Shakuntala’s husband, Paritosh Banerji with Amit Sadh plays Anupama’s husband, Ajay. The movie has Prakash Belawadi and Ipshita Chakraborty Singh as Shakuntala’s parents, Sheeba Chaddha as Tarabi, Neil Bhoopalam as Dhiraj, Jiya Shah as Sharada and others. Teenage Shakuntala Devi is essayed by Spandan Chaturvedi, while child version is portrayed by Araina Nand. Young Anupama is played by Chahat Tewani.

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Shakuntala Devi Plot and more

The movie is based on the life of Shakuntala Devi, who was an Indian writer and mathematical genius, popularly called as “the human computer” by many. Besides her achievements, it explores her relationship with her daughter. The film has earned positive responses from the audiences.

Shakuntala Devi is penned by Anu Menon and Nayanika Mahtani with dialogues from Ishita Moitra. It is bankrolled by Sony Pictures Networks India and A Genius Films Production. The soundtrack is composed by Sachin-Jigar with a score by Karan Kulkarni. Lyrics are written by Vayu and Priya Saraiya. Cinematography is by Keiko Nakahara and editing by Antara Lahiri. The film was scheduled to release on May 8, 2020, but will miss its theatrical release due to coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic. Shakuntala Devi is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.