Amit Masurkar’s Sherni has been appreciated for the way it brings everyday sexism into focus. The film, on man-animal conflict and shrinking forests, also puts the spotlight on how its protagonist, Vidya Vincent (played by Vidya Balan), has to face casual sexism both at work and home.
A few scenes where she responds as her mother-in-law (played by Ila Arun) puts forth her expectations are especially telling. For instance, the sequence where Ila Arun’s character tells Vidya to wear jewelry when they are going to her colleague’s house for dinner showed how women have expectations from their daughters-in-law but not their sons.
Talking about the scene and her character, Ila told that while she doesn’t feel her role was of a “conservative” mother-in-law, she can understand why today’s generation can see her as a part of the problem.
“Her aspiration and behaviour is akin to how an Indian mother-in-law will behave in the real world too. In the scene, where my character tells Vidya to dress up, my character is sketched in a way that she wants Vidya to feel loved as well. There is a sort of competition between the mother and the mother-in-law because I want to put across that she is mine too. So, I am not conservative but maybe a possessive mother who will always keep her son as her priority, which is natural and happens in real life too,” she said..
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