Bollywood has not attempted a film on the complex, but important, subject of man-animal conflict in such detail and Sherni is a good attempt. The story seems to have been inspired by the cold-blooded shooting of the tigress Avni (or T1) in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. Back in 2018, I had reported from Pandharkawda in Yavatmal about how the son of a controversial private shooter had killed T1, who was responsible for the death of 13 villagers. (Disclosure: I was consulted by the makers at the early stages of scripting.)

The Maharashtra Forest Department, which enlisted the private hunter to resolve the issue, had faced a lot of criticism for their actions.