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My thoughts on the movie "Shakuntala Devi":
1) The movie credits mention right upfront that the story is "as seen through the eyes of a daughter". That causes an emphasis on personal details.
1) The movie credits mention right upfront that the story is "as seen through the eyes of a daughter". That causes an emphasis on personal details.
2) The daughter's viewpoint brings a unique perspective to Shakuntala Devi's life, but also makes the movie a little unidimensional. This has its limitations (which become stark if we compare it to the supremely well made #SecretsofTheSurface).
3) That said, the movie did go over several important milestones: how she started, the famous BBC episode, her shows spanning several countries and also, the different genres of books she wrote [this was a pleasant surprise].
4) We wonder if the movie could have emphasized more on her work and talents. But, this is a tricky point: no one could really understand or explain her computational powers.
5) It was refreshing to see Bollywood (for once!) portray a self-driven woman who was extremely good at what she did and knew her worth without a man telling her!!
6) I saw some of SD's real life interviews/shows available on Youtube and do feel that her personality (confident, chirpy and sometimes badass) was adapted well to the screen. With some drama, though :-).
7) The one really annoying feature in the movie were the songs: they did nothing to enhance the story and pretty much caricatured her! Also wasted precious time that could have been spent showing more of her mathematical performances or recreating some of her famous interviews.
8) One interesting question that the movie and discussions about Shakuntala Devi have generated is if she could be considered a mathematician. People have strong views about it, one way or the other (mostly the other!)
9) Here's a nice thread by @Samatha_Mathew as part of this discussion: https://twitter.com/Samatha_Mathew/status/1294494025878134787
10) As a little child, SD was denied a formal education and started generating income for her family as an onstage performer. Makes us wonder if a formal education would have given her access to a far wider "stage" of mathematics and knowledge where she could have contributed.
11) I hope the SD movie sparks off a new genre of STEM-based movies in India. The one movie that was sorely disappointing on this front was "Mission Mangal". It totally trivialised an important space mission.
12) "Mission Mangal" is a great example of how science communication should NOT be done. Glad the movie got a "befitting reply" from the audience!
13) We have superb science writers like @nandita_j and @shubawrite. Hope Bollywood or other popular entertainers can utilize their knowledge and writing talent for scripting STEM based movies 
14) On a related note, how much do we know about women (research) mathematicians from India? They may not set a stage on fire with their computational powers but in the relative silence of their desk, have made deep and profound mathematical discoveries. Can you name some?
15) A thread on some such inspiring women and their stories is in the works. Do watch this space :-)
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