Sherni

The answer, in both cases, is tragedy.

When a tigress—the “Sherni” of the title—starts straying into human villages and killing livestock (and eventually people), Vidya is caught in the middle. On one side are politicians who see the tiger as a vote bank. On the other are villagers who are justifiably angry and scared. And in the middle are the forest department’s own inefficiencies, corruption, and apathy. sherni

India loses dozens of tigers every year to poaching and conflict. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, over 200 people die in tiger attacks annually, and nearly 100 tigers are killed or captured. The real issue is habitat fragmentation. As forests shrink, tigers walk into villages. And when that happens, the tiger always loses. The answer, in both cases, is tragedy

Vidya Vincent (played with remarkable restraint by Vidya Balan) is a forest officer in a remote part of Madhya Pradesh. She is competent, calm, and deeply ethical. But she is also a woman in a male-dominated system, routinely sidelined, mocked, and underestimated. On the other are villagers who are justifiably

So here’s to the real Shernis—the forest guards, the wildlife biologists, the village women who protect their fields at night, and the tigresses who only want one thing: a forest of their own.