Review of film SERIOUS MEN |
Director Sudhir Mishra`s perception of the common man has certainly changed since Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro in 1983. While the two protagonists of that film were naive do-gooders with modest ambitions, the following four decades have made the common man angrier. Based on a novel by Manu Joseph, Mishra`s latest film SERIOUS MEN tells the story of Ayyan Mani, a Dalit personal assistant to a Brahmin scientist. After a lifetime of being called names, he decides to channel his anger at the world by conning it. Ayyan begins journey of upward social mobility by convincing everybody that his 10-year-old son is a genius. Ayyan is played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, an actor who has consistently delivered top-tier content for Netflix like Sacred Games and Raat Akeli Hai. Nawaz effortlessly slips into his characters without so much as a change in hairstyle. He is neither diminutive nor imposing, but through sheer performance convincingly pulls off both. SERIOUS MEN is, in many ways, a jail-break movie. Ayyan is trapped in the metaphorical prison of Mumbai, the towering high-rises surrounding his chawl like prison bars. SERIOUS MEN is a movie that captures what it is like to live in India, circa 2020. It`s a time capsule that captures the mood of the nation. Mishra and his team of four writers don`t put a foot wrong. In an industry that routinely finds it difficult to produce tonally consistent films, Mishra and his team have made the film sharp from start to finish.
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