Shakuntala Devi

Background: A woman who was once told that if she wants to be big in life, the world will call her “bada aadmi” (successful man) because no one has ever heard of any “badi aurat” (successful woman) in the 1930s, this lady was always ‘herself’ — fierce, unapologetic, and no cry-baby in distress and with that she promised herself to become a “badi aurat” one day.

- Atishay Jain

Today we (and for many more centuries to come) know her as the ‘Human Computer’ — Shakuntala Devi, a genius mathematician, astrologer, author of many amazing books and a politician (she contested the Lok Sabha elections against Indira Gandhi from Medak) is played by the very confident and amazingly talented Vidya Balan in this beautiful biopic.

From playing a fearless, beautiful actor Silk in The Dirty Picture (2011), a working independent talented housewife Sulu in Tumhari Sulu (2017) to a brilliant scientist in Mission Mangal (2019), Vidya Balan has come a long way, encouraging women to chase their dreams without thinking about societal stigmas. Now she is back with her never-ending support to women empowerment with her well-played role of Shakuntala Devi, India’s first woman mathematician to make it to the Guinness Book of World Records for her calculation speed and mental solving skills.

Sanya Malhotra, known for Badhai Ho (2018), Dangal (2018), Photograph (2019) plays Shakuntala’s daughter, Anupama (Anu); confident as always, she is very crisp in her dialogue delivery this time.