The movie ‘Sherni’ is based on the killing of Pandharkawada
tigress Avni a.k.a T1. Actor Vidya Balan was lauded for her performance in the movie. Soon after the release of the film, the movie got entangled in various controversies.

Shooter Asghar Ali Khan filed a legal notice on makers of
the movie for twisting facts, stating that the movie will hamper the ongoing
investigation. Not just that, even the real-life Sherni IFS officer KM Abharna,
played by Vidya Balan, shared a bunch of facts that the film got wrong.

Also read: Richa Chadha’s ‘Inside Edge’ season 3 is here. All about the series

In an interview with the Times Of India, the former deputy
conservator of Pandharkawada forest said, “The film talks about the landscape
management and problems faced by the department, but it lacks originality.
There is too much dilution when it comes to killing T1 (T12 in the movie). Some
facts as used as they were. It portrays how T1 started killing humans after I
joined. But when I joined in August 2017, the tigress had already mauled 5
villagers. It was after August that proper identification and systematic
monitoring started.”

She further added: “There
is a lot of fictionalization. But it is also true that it may be perhaps the
first film to highlight the ground problems of foresters and the landscape
management issues. The director Amit Masurkar has filmed Sherni in Madhya
Pradesh showing a different landscape. Had the filming been done in T1 habitat
in Pandharkawada, it would have made a different impact as viewers would have
come to know how tigers live with cubs in such a fragmented habitat.”

Also read: Shahid Kapoor on his maiden OTT venture: I’m nervous if people will like me

Abharna also denied that neither the director nor the
leading star cast spoke to her about her role as a forest DyCF. Doctor Jerryl
Banait, one of the petitioners in the Avni PIL, also stated that the movie gave
misinformation on the controversial killing.

He said, “Though it is evident how
political pressure worked, and how Hyderabad-based private shooter Shafath Ali
Khan holds sway over forest officials, the film fails to reveal that his son
Asghar Ali Khan shot T1 concocting self-defense theory, that too in the night.
It also fails to speak of the NTCA and state committee reports indicting
Asghar.”

Also read: Amazon, Netflix’s hilarious banter leaves ‘Family Man’ actor Manoj Bajpayee in splits

“Besides, the film doesn’t highlight how veterinary experts
were given secondary treatment over the private shooter. The role of three
wildlife veterinarians Doctor Prayag HS, Dr Suninil Bawaskar, and Dr Ravi
Khobragade, who brought to fore the fact that the tigress had cubs, have also
been ignored.”

“They also suggested the use of tiger urine and Calvin Klein perfume
lure T1,” concluded Doctor Banait. The makers of the movie haven’t responded to
allegations of twisting facts yet.