Shakuntala Devi Movie Review - Critics

List of Shakuntala Devi Movie Reviews from various popular critics and news portals. Kindly bookmark this page to check all the reviews which will be updated accordingly.

Star Cast - Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra

Director - Anu Menon

Release Date - 31 July 2020 on Amazon Prime Video

Total Reviews - 13

Average Score - 3.09/5

Overall Word of Mouth (Critics) - Positive!

1. Times of India -

Rating Score -> 3.5/5

But ultimately ‘Shakuntala Devi’ is 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! Vidya Kasam, don’t give this one a miss.

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2. Indian Express -

Rating Score -> 3/5

Balan owns the material that she is given, course-correcting every time she tends to slip into being mannered. The supporting cast is fine. Sengupta works well with Balan, and Malhotra and Sadh, as the modern couple, feel right. The film, which stays determinedly cheerful even in the grey hues of London, slides into flatness here and there. The lines are perky but sometimes startlingly contemporary.

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3. Hindustan Times -

Rating Score -> n/a

In the film’s defence, it is not a hagiography. Shakuntala is not perfect. She has her imperfections like the rest of us. The film seems in a hurry to get from point A to point B, like a standard cradle-to-the-grave biopic. A woman who never really understood the meaning of the word ‘normal’, Shakuntala Devi now gets a biopic which can only be described thus.

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4. Latestly -

Rating Score -> 4/5

Vidya-Kasam! Shakuntala Devi is a truly engrossing biopic that celebrates the enigma of its muse and empowered by the sprightly performance of Vidya Balan. Shakuntala Devi is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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5. India Today -

Rating Score -> 3.5/5

Shakuntala Devi, thus, is the perfect treat for you this weekend. Catch the film within the comfort of your home on Amazon Prime Video and if you have the opportunity to watch it with your mother, don’t miss it. Be prepared for a super-emotional climax, though. But then, as Vidya aka Shakuntala Devi says in the film, “We Indians are like that only. Drama or nothing.” Right?

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6. The Guardian -

Rating Score -> 3/5

Balan casts a formidable shadow, but Malhotra emerges from it with credit, quietly affecting as a more conventional personality who found she could only rebel against a trailblazing parent by pushing even further into domesticity. 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.

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7. Zoom TV -

Rating Score -> 3.5/5

Shakuntala Devi is a film that comes with an important message; one that rarely finds its way to the screen even in 2020. A woman can be a mother and still be her own woman; sounds simple, but look around and see how many women have lost their identities whether as sacrifices for kids or partners or in-laws or society. In a world that's riddled with stories of sacrifices, Shakuntala Devi makes it worth your while. 

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8. Mumbai Mirror -

Rating Score -> 3/5

Without a decimal of doubt, there couldn’t be a better choice than Balan to slip into this eccentric lead. Snapping her fingers as numbers rolled off her tongue in
rhythmic accuracy, she furnishes her Shakuntala with a touch of madness and an insatiable appetite for life. Malhotra is barely recognisable in the multiple avatars she dons here, first as a teen struggling to keep up with the consistent churn in her life and later, as a determined interior designer hoping to land on her feet. The young actress is compelling, and despite her second-fiddle position in this film, she leaves an indelible mark with her performance.

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9. DNA -

Rating Score -> 3/5

Overall Shakuntala Devi is watchable and only making Vidya Balan the reason for it. Anu Menon (director) did her research well from the characterisation to the look, sequences and more. She knew what she got into and made it visually palatable on the screen. 

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10. Rediff -

Rating Score -> 3/5

There's nothing wrong in Vidya Balan's performance. There's just nothing new about it. She has played various versions of this charismatic, go-getter, persona. A sense of familiarity colours her enthusiasm, struggle, rejection, arrogance, humour and ageing in the spirit of Silk and Sulu. What I found unique about her portrayal is how even the most independent of individuals can't help be controlling. Shakuntala Devi would be better for it had it dwelled some more into that.

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11. News 18 -

Rating Score -> 3/5

The film draws much of its watchability from its cast. Vidya Balan admirably balances Shakuntala's transformation as the protagonist ages. She is feisty yet vulnerable as a young, fresh-off-the-boat girl in London, who can unapologetically carry on conversing with the ‘goras' despite her broken English. She is the lively star of the party who sweeps the gentleman Paritosh off his feet with one love note on a piece of paper.

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12. Deccan Herald -

Rating Score -> 1.5/5

Shakuntala Devi also superficially touches upon issues like feminism and women empowerment but this fails to salvage the movie. A few scenes here and there make an okayish impact but amount to nothing in the larger scheme of things. 

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13. Komal Nahta -

Rating Score -> n/a

On the whole, Shakuntala Devi is a fair entertainer but it is more for the classes than the masses and more for the ladies audience than the males. Had it been released theatrically, it would have done well in select multiplexes mainly but average business overall.

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