One can never miss a single film or series by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Of them, Netflix Original Film – Serious Men directed by Sudhir Mishra is one. The actor is once again playing a sly underdog who will keep you glued to your screens till the end. He has his way around bringing a stroke of wonder to the ordinary.
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Based on the book by Manu Joseph with the same title, the film is likely to invoke lingering thoughts in one’s mind. With his years-long expertise, Director Sudhir Mishra vividly portrays the socio-political issues of Indian society in the film. He delves into several arenas and showcases a wide range of characters whose lives are interlinked. But what has been talked of the most that it’s a satire on caste and class.
From its title, one can make out that the film is about ‘serious men’. But how do you define a man being serious? Though Nawazuddin and his son played by Aakshath Das are the protagonists, the storyline equally focuses on the serious men played by Nassar who enacts as Dr.Arvind Acharya and his entire scientific team and colleagues at the National Institute of Fundamental Research. Ayyan Mani (Nawaz) is a personal assistant of Dr.Acharya (Nassar) who is treated like slime every single day. This very treatment in which Mani is undermined makes him think of the title serious men. Okay, that was a spoiler. But I am sure you would still watch the film.
The film sketches the yearning of a Dalit employee who struggles to meet his ends. It is his struggle that makes him dream to make his son a serious man. For the same, he adopts every single method that he had grasped from his observation of the serious men.
Aakshath Das has surely made his impression as a child artist with his first film. He convinces you that he is a genius in the beginning and also shows you his regular side as the film advances.
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There is an avid mockery of the rash attitude of the serious men (the ones who are intelligent and powerful) in the film. One can always mimic a serious man but can they be one by doing so? You need to watch the film to find out.
Coming to the film’s focus on caste, Ayyan Mani is a shudra who lost his mother for the same reason. On growing up he terrifies people by questioning their discrimination. He never loses his self-esteem to what he is. He is blunt and ferocious. He even turns down his conversion of faith for upliftment and talks freely about his wife who belongs to a caste of sex workers. This way the storyline brings the best spirit out of the downtrodden. The film comes at a time when the nation is hit hard by the Hathras case and so it’s striking the right chords with its timing.
Indira Tiwari in the role of a Dalit mother effortlessly transforms from a docile wife to a vociferous woman convincing her part rightly. Likewise, Shweta Basu Prasad as Anuj Dhavre speaks up for the women who are subject to domestic violence. She shows that class has nothing to do with one’s mindset.
I am sure you are going to enjoy watching the film. I found it entertaining, thought-provoking, and completely out of the box. Five out of five stars from my side.