Sherni: Vidya Balan opens up about how she prepped to play a forest officer, says 'You don’t have to be aggressive or be a man in a man’s world'

Vidya Balan fans are waiting for a treat as the actress is all set to come on-screen once again very soon. The actress will play a forest officer this time in Newton director Amit Masurkar's Sherni. Now, in a recent interview, she has opened up about the film.

Talking to Mid Day, she revealed that she had interacted with many forest officers, especially women, to prep up for the role. Vidya said, “Playing a forest officer was refreshing because it’s a world I am not familiar with. I met a few forest officers to understand what their job entails. It was an eye-opener. They have to undergo an intense three-year course before they make the cut. When one gets a wildlife posting, they are cut off from civilisation, living in a parallel reality and are most probably away from their families. The job can be physically arduous and dangerous at times, so [the field] was traditionally male-dominated. But the women officers shared how they negotiated their way around the patriarchal mindset.”

Talking about her character, Vidya said, “I like that Vidya Vincent is a woman of few words and yet has the courage to stand up for what she believes in. You don’t have to be aggressive or be a man in a man’s world; you can be a woman and still find your way.”

Sherni has largely been shot in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh. The film also stars actors like Neeraj Kabi and Vijay Raaz.