“Sherni” (2021): Ecology, Power, and the Politics of Coexistence
Recently, I watched Sherni (2021), directed by Amit V. Masurkar. The film revolves around a jaded forest officer, Vidya Vincent, who leads a team of trackers and locals in an effort to capture an unsettled tigress, T12. As Vidya navigates bureaucratic apathy, political pressures, and social hostility, the film becomes much more than a story about a tiger hunt—it transforms into a quiet, layered meditation on ecology, gender, and power.
I vividly recall my Master’s days when Prof. Dilip Barad was teaching Ecocriticism and the Future of Postcolonial Studies. He had mentioned this film as a case that vividly represents ecological imbalance and human interference with nature. That lecture stayed with me and inspired me not only to revisit the film but also to write this reflection.
My motivation, however, goes beyond nostalgia. The ecological crises surrounding us—deforestation, climate shifts, animal displacement—make Sherni profoundly relevant today. My own doctoral research in ecocritical studies deals with similar intersections of environment, displacement, and human responsibility. Moreover, the place where I teach—Rajpipla, surrounded by forests and tribal communities—constantly reminds me of the fragile balance between human life and wilderness. It is not rare to spot multiple snakes in a single day within our college campus. These daily encounters with nature make Sherni not just a film but a mirror to our lived reality.
The Story Beyond the Plot
On the surface, Sherni narrates the journey of T12—a tigress labeled a “man-eater”—and the forest department’s attempts to capture her. The villagers, terrified after a series of attacks, demand immediate action. The forest officials, led by Vidya Vincent, try to find a humane solution, but their efforts collapse under political manipulation and bureaucratic lethargy. Eventually, the tigress is killed by the self-proclaimed hunter Pintu Bhaiya, who symbolizes the triumph of masculine aggression over ecological ethics.
What stands out, however, is not the plot itself but the ethical ambiguity it presents. No one in the film is entirely right or wrong. Vidya’s compassion clashes with her helplessness; villagers’ fear is genuine, yet their anger is exploited; politicians use tragedy for publicity, while conservation becomes a performance of power. The question lingers: Who truly encroaches on whom?
Women, Nature, and Resistance
The film also establishes a quiet parallel between Vidya Vincent and the tigress T12. Both are female figures navigating patriarchal structures—Vidya within bureaucratic and political systems, and T12 within shrinking natural habitats dominated by human intrusion. Both are silenced, controlled, and ultimately punished for asserting their presence.
This resonance echoes ecofeminist theory, which draws connections between the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature. As Vandana Shiva (1989) and Carolyn Merchant (1980) argue, patriarchal power systems view both women and nature as resources to be subdued or regulated. Vidya’s integrity, her moral isolation, and her resistance to political spectacle mirror the tigress’s instinctive struggle to survive within an altered ecosystem.
The Forest as Character
The forest in Sherni is not a backdrop—it is an active participant. It breathes, hides, threatens, and shelters. The film’s cinematography deliberately avoids romanticizing wilderness; instead, it shows the forest as fragmented, encroached upon by human settlements, and scarred by development projects. The slow pacing and muted tones remind us that ecological imbalance is not sudden—it unfolds silently, almost invisibly, through everyday human activities.
Ecologists studying Human–Wildlife Conflict (HWC) in India have documented similar realities. Research by Baishya et al. (2025) and The Indian Forester journal shows that habitat fragmentation, prey depletion, and expanding agriculture are key reasons behind tigers straying into villages. As natural corridors shrink, wild animals lose prey and shelter, forcing them to enter human spaces in search of food. The “conflict” is therefore not a sudden anomaly—it is the inevitable outcome of human expansionism (Sukumar, 2003; Thapar, 2019).
Politics of Conservation
What Sherni captures brilliantly is how conservation often becomes politicized. The forest department’s aim—to capture T12 alive—is continually undermined by local politicians eager for quick solutions and media attention. Vidya’s ethical stand is dismissed as weakness, while Pintu Bhaiya’s violent act is celebrated as heroism.
This aligns with the observations of environmental sociologist Rob Nixon (2011), who coined the term “slow violence” to describe the gradual, invisible destruction wrought by ecological neglect and bureaucratic indifference. Environmental degradation, displacement, and exploitation happen not through spectacle but through silence, policy, and neglect. Vidya Vincent’s silent resignation at the film’s end becomes symbolic of how integrity and ecological ethics are often devoured by the machinery of politics.
The Human–Animal Boundary
At the film’s heart lies a haunting question: When nature retaliates, who is to blame? The villagers’ fear of T12 stems from real loss—human lives are at stake. Yet, the film subtly exposes the deeper irony: it is humans who have intruded upon the tiger’s habitat. The so-called “man-eater” is, in fact, the victim of ecological displacement.
Ecologists like Raman Sukumar (2003) and Valmik Thapar (2019) have long emphasized that conflicts between humans and tigers in India are ecological symptoms, not behavioral anomalies. Deforestation, mining, and unsustainable development alter migration routes and prey patterns. The tiger, much like T12, becomes a scapegoat in a human drama of greed and governance failure.
Rajpipla and the Everyday Ecology
Living and teaching in Rajpipla makes Sherni more than cinema for me—it feels lived. The region’s forests, tribal communities, and wildlife form a delicate ecosystem where human coexistence with nature is an everyday negotiation. Villagers know the forest intimately, but like those in the film, they are often voiceless in policy decisions. Ecologists suggest that community participation is the only sustainable path forward: involving locals in forest monitoring, benefit sharing, and conservation strategies reduces conflict and fosters empathy (Baishya et al., 2025).
Such involvement could turn fear into stewardship—a principle both Sherni and real-world ecology agree upon.
Conclusion: The Roar Beneath the Silence
Sherni refuses to offer easy answers. It does not glorify nature nor demonize humanity; instead, it exposes the uneasy coexistence of both. Vidya Vincent’s quiet dignity contrasts sharply with the loud politics around her, just as the tigress’s unseen presence dominates the narrative.
The film ultimately invites us to rethink what ecological responsibility means. It is not about saving animals from humans, but about redefining how humans live with animals. It reminds us, as Lawrence Buell (1995) suggests, that the environment is not a passive setting for human action—it is a participant in human moral and cultural imagination.
In the end, Sherni roars not through sound but through silence—through Vidya’s restrained defiance, through the forest’s mute endurance, and through the haunting memory of T12. It reminds us that ecology is not only about trees and tigers—it is about ethics, empathy, and the courage to protect what cannot speak for itself.
References
Baishya, R., Bhuyan, M., & Deka, R. (2025). Human–Wildlife Conflict and Management with Special Reference to India. Asian Research Journal of Agriculture and Biology.
Buell, L. (1995). The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture. Harvard University Press.
Merchant, C. (1980). The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution. Harper & Row.
Nixon, R. (2011). Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Harvard University Press.
Shiva, V. (1989). Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development. Zed Books.
Masurkar, A. V. (Director). (2021). Sherni [Film]. Abundantia Entertainment. Amazon Prime Video.
Sukumar, R. (2003). The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation. Oxford University Press.
Thapar, V. (2019). Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India. Aleph Book Company.
