What inspired Anu menon to create biopic on Shakuntala Devi

Highly anticipated Bollywood film Shakuntala Devi recently globally premiered on the Amazon Prime Video. Created and directed by Anu Menon, the film stars Vidya Balan (Mission Mangal, Dirty Picture) in the lead. It’s a biographical drama on the life of Shakuntala Devi, a writer and mathematician who was popularly known as the human computer.

When asked why a biopic on Shakuntala Devi and what was her personal motivation behind picking up this script, Anu Menon mentions her daughter being her inspiration. She said, “One day, I heard my then 9-year-old daughter say that girls like English and boys like Maths. That really stung and I realised that we really need to fix this. That was the starting point, following which I began doing some research around Shakuntala Devi and eventually connected with her daughter Anupama in London with my co-writer Nayanika. So this is certainly a story that is equal measures personal and important to me. I do hope little girls across the world see the movie and feel differently about maths”

Don’t forget to watch the eagerly awaited Biopic Shakuntala Devi, on July 31, 2020 across 200 countries and territories exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.