This Road To A Man-Eating Tigress Is Striped With Sexism: 5 Takeaways From Sherni Trailer

Vidya Balan in Sherni trailer is a treat to watch. But then again, when is she not? Her upcoming Amazon Prime film sees her assume the role of a forest officer - a "lady officer" among muscled men - hot on the trail of a tigress they know to be a maneater.

Villagers around the jungles are terror-struck at the prospect of a blood-thirsty tigress roaming the environs. Their fears collide with the necessity of grazing their own cattle and animals, posing a direct risk to their livelihood. Balan on duty tries to resolve these knots while battling her own demons in a world of sexism and stereotypes.

Sherni, directed by Amit Masurkar, releases June 18.

Vidya Balan In Sherni Promises To Be A Standout Character: 5 Trailer Highlights

1. The correlation between Balan navigating her way through the forests of sexism and a tigress prowling unseen on a path of her choosing is hard to miss. It seems to form the foundation of the film, proclaiming that a woman in every shape has intrinsic, wild independence that isn't up for being conquered or ridiculed.

2. Balan in the trailer isn't trying to prove her worth at any point, even when male colleagues are chagrined at the services for sending a "lady officer" on a case that is shaping up to be difficult. In her monotone manner, Balan faces every swipe thrown at her, forever unruffled.

3. Sherni boasts of a stellar cast, each actor more natural in their skill than the last, from Brijendra Kala to Neeraj Kabi and Ila Arun. The trailer shows them at their best in key roles around Balan - Arun as a mother figure, Kala as a teammate she can be candid with, Kabi and the other male forest officers whom she has been assigned to lead.

4. For the lack of a better reference, Sherni is rather similar to the 2005 thriller Kaal in its essential messaging, through a man-eating animal, about the ultimate predominance of the wilderness over the human-made world. Sherni does not grandstand about it, but in subtle ways communicates that the rule of the jungle is supreme.

5. The trailer, fortunately, doesn't preach, even though there is ample room to do so. Within its one-track purpose of locating the tigress, Sherni finds ways to relay that the primordial law of the jungle is far superior and fairer than the discriminatory laws of human land.

Watch the Sherni trailer ">here: