Film Review ‘Sherdil’: Mimicry is a wonderful genre. Mimicking any person’s voice and gestures and acting in such a way that the audience perceives it as real. When the cast of the film is imitated, the audience enjoys it a lot but it also has a sad side. When a talented artist starts imitating an actor, he realizes that he has been typecast and now the audience sees less innovation in his performance. Such an actor should immediately analyze his work and avoid similar roles in the future. After watching Sherdil – The Pilivite Saga released on Netflix, he feels like giving Pankaj Tripathi this opinion.
Over the past year, many stand-up artists have started impersonating Pankaj Tripathi very successfully. Her performance in Sherdil seems so worn out that if she chooses this role and puts it in any of her other films, it might not make a difference. This thing about Pankaj Tripathi is important because Pankaj is a true desi man and his performance shows the hustle and bustle of the intersection, the hustle and bustle of the street and the smile of Ottley. Repeated sightings of such a remarkable artist are the first signs of danger for his career. Possessing a lion’s heart, only a lion’s heart can bear it.
Villages adjacent to forests often face problems. Wild animals destroy their crops, predators prey on their domestic animals. The fate of these villagers is such that their very existence is doubtful. Due to the ruthlessness and indifference of government officials, the villages receive no help and what they get is a mountain of law and order and paperwork that these illiterate barbarians leave as a punishment from God. In 2017, a similar anecdote surfaced in Pilibhi where due to extreme poverty and starvation, villagers left their elders at home and moved to the city.
The intention was that if these old people were eaten by wild animals like lions, the government would receive huge compensation as this money would not be available from any rural development scheme. Director Srijit Mukherjee wrote the film based on this incident with Sudeep Nigam and Atul Kumar Rai. The story itself is unique and heartbreaking. As a society, we view the utility of our elders as merely compensating for their deaths, which is shameful, horrifying and a disgrace to our humanity. But it is also true.
We have to look closely at these events to believe the story. Pankaj Tripathi’s sincere, situational satire doesn’t reach the seriousness of the matter even for hard hearts like ours. Today’s OTT audience has a skin so thick that nothing burns its sensibilities less than acid. The film does not produce this acid, but the soft coating of satire comes out later, due to which we do not understand the sadness of this story. Pankaj’s inappropriate use and his kind of acting is an abusive use of ‘Sherdil – The Pilipit Saga’.
It is Pankaj’s specialty to take silly ideas and turn them into audience favorite stories with ease, but Pankaj is fooled in this film. A common man is not stupid. When Pankaj first goes to the forest to hunt a lion, the whole story and scene seems boring and fake. The folly of making Neeraj Kavi a desi version of Jim Corbett is beyond comprehension. Amidst all this, Pankaj’s fake Hindi kills the desire to know which village in Pilibhit is spoken. The intention here is to exploit Pankaj, not to use his performance properly.
The truth behind the making of the film is bitter but the taste of what was served on it is not known. There is no satire, no tragedy of the forest, no self-sacrifice of a cancer patient, no commentary on the unrealistic policies of the government. It is also wrong to drag the whole picture on Pankaj alone. Sreejith’s film Shabad Mithu is better than this, where there was no drama in that film either. Sreejith’s Bengali films are very successful and Hindi films are only in discussion. To show a new kind of story, you have to maintain a mood.
Like the flow of a river, the playful story often fails to make any connection with the audience. The first 20-25 minutes of Shergill are so laborious and slow that the audience gets bored. Why directors forget that now viewers are free to watch anything else in OTT. Photographer Tiyash Sen is looking for his land. The film is shot by establishing the identity between the beauty of the forest and the sadness of the situation. This is the problem of Prannoy Dasgupta. Even in the rush of keep and cut, the editing doesn’t shape the film. Shantanu Maitra’s songs have good aspects but the songs will not be successful and popular. “Dhoop Pani Behene De” is the last recorded song of recently deceased famous singer KK in this film.
Sherdil film is only for those who are Sherdil. There is nothing funny or funny in this film. Pankaj Tripathi needs to look into his own heart to break free from his familiar style. All those who are fans of Pankaj will think again after watching this film. Nothing will happen if you don’t see it.
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Tags: movie review, Pankaj Tripathi
First Published: August 24, 2022, 17:52 IST
