Serious Men

Serious Men - Not at all a usual movie watching experience, it's very much different from other movies. It touches various social issues throughout the film especially the caste system. Cinematography is done brilliantly, every frame speaks itself. There is so much humour throughout the film and it's very good.

Now, there is Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the lead role, so it's obvious that there will be no complain about acting. But the show stealer is of course the child actor Aakshath Das. Nassar & Indira Tiwari also support the film very well. Hope to see Indira Tiwari in future again. Finally Sudhir Mishra is back again in his old form.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of the best actors working in the Hindi film industry. He's done so many interesting films and Serious Men is no different.

Serious Men follows Ayyan Mani, an underprivileged man who decides to make his son a genius. However, he'll soon find out that his method is slowly destroying his son.

Serious Men is a film that may linger on people's minds for some time. It's a film that a lot of people can relate to. Adapted from the novel by Manu Joseph, Serious Men explores the desperation and want to have a better life and how caste and class plays a factor into your societal status. A great aspect is the writing. The characters interact in a natural way and its commentary on society doesn't come across as preachy. Having four writers on a film can be scary as there may be a clash of ideas but Abhijeet Khuman, Bhavesh Mandalia, Nikhil Nair and Niren Bhatt all collaborated really well with each other and made a script that was thought-provoking and engaging. There are parts of the story which I did question because it seemed a tad unbelievable but otherwise I didn't have much of a problem with it. The cinematography is handled really well and Sudhir Mishra's direction was well done.

The performances really shine in this film. Nawazuddin Siddiqui once again does a great job here. Ayyan is a very intriguing character that has many layers to him and Siddiqui plays him to a tee. Nassar, as the intelligent but arrogant Dr. Arvind Acharya, plays his character well. Indira Tiwari also does a good job playing Siddiqui's wife. I've always been sceptical about child performances but Aakshath Das was truly great. He conveyed the smart and confused nature of Adi well and I hope to see more of him in the future.

Serious Men is definitely one of the better Hindi films I've seen this year. It has a fascinating premise and an interesting take on society that is sure to make you think.

The flim is good but the some things in movies is missing which were expected which were fullfilled. I think there should not be adult scenes in movie. It's doesnot suits the movie. If it was not there then movie was to be good. It's way of expressing message was heartfelt. Nawaz sir acting was as usual.

Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is an ordinary man, leading an ordinary life. Professionally, he is the PA to Dr. Acharya (Nasser) the lead scientist at NIFR and is absolutely convinced that his boss is fooling the world with his wacky research on alien microbes but puzzled about how convincing and confident the latter is, in getting away with lies. With the birth of Mani's son Adi, he hatches a grand plot of exhibiting his slow learner kid to the world as a prodigy and a genius in the making, thus achieving the extraordinary aspiration of societal recognition and adulation.

Adi grows confident due to Mani's incessant guidance, illegitimate mechanisms for catapulting him to fame and popularity, using which the latter gains the recognition that he otherwise would never have achieved. It's a grand secret between the father and the son, but like all good things, it must come to an end. The repressed childhood of Adi, and his inability to act without assistance slowly starts getting to the child, something that can potentially destroy him mentally. Mani has to find an exit strategy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Adi, and is ready to pay the price for it.

Serious Men, directed by Sudhir Mishra is a tale of a twisted mind that refuses to succumb to the ordinary and will go to any length to realize his dreams, by hook or by crook. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is par excellence as the master manipulator, who is least concerned about the lack of maturity of the young mind, piling on agony on the child with psychological overload. But Serious Men belongs to the child artist Akshath Das, who absolutely captivates with his charm, innocence and complex psychological emotional demonstration, especially when he is unable to handle the burden any longer. Serious Men is a diabolical essay that waltzes on the screen in the garb of a socio-comic drama that gradually returns the young mind to sanity and normalcy, but not without collateral damages. It does leave some important messages for parents who overload their children to rise to the competitive world, without being preachy.

Serious men is based on the book of same name and tells the story of a over-enthusiastic office assistant, who would go the extra mile to get the respect he deserves along with is son. The movie on one side focuses on a High IQ child prodigy, who seems to blessed with natural intelligence and inquest while the other side parallels the games played by individuals from all the strata of society to get what they want. The whole premise tends to reach a boiling point when the core sub-plot unfolds sometime in the middle.

Gradually though, despite the humour in the situations portrayed, especially in the satirical take on corruption that knows no social barriers, and despite the entertaining audacity of abundant strategies, the film reveals its hollow centre, only to pick itself up in the last 20 minutes with a liberal dose of practicality.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is at is usual best in his portrayal of a Ayyan Mani. Indira Tiwari and little Aakshath Das do their parts well. Nassar as Dr. Acharya a shrewd, no nonsense arrogant director of a government-run scientific research institute excels the most. Director Sudhir Mishra tries to put in too many punches but only a handful land on where it is intended. Adapted screenplay may not have done enough justice to a good story. Cinematography, casting, music, costumes and production design were decent. Make up was a little over done.

Overall, not a perfect movie but Serious men is funny and poignant in equal parts, it's a mix of complexities that exist around us and the state of affairs that we live in and ignore. Watch it for Nawaz who yet again proves that he has the ability to play wide range of characters convincingly. It is high time that parents in India stop using their children as insurance policy for their future.