Serious men
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nassar, Indira Tiwari, Aakshath Das, Shweta Basu Prasad, Sanjay Narvekar
Director: Sudhir Mishra
In fact, to call Serious Men, based on the homonymous novel by Manu Joseph, a satire is not enough. It is more real than reality in a unique way. It is that aspirational trait in us that forces us to take the dangerous route. You know, roads that can save time but also pose a theft threat. Director Sudhir Mishra has turned Joseph’s super sharp story into an equally shocking movie with Nawazuddin Siddiqui leaving the Nawazuddin Siddiqui act and covering himself with a new personality, which is a heady cocktail of cynicism, greed, revenge, and intellect.
Ayyan Mani (Siddiqui), a risky Tamil Dalit from a Mumbai chawl, has a strange sense of humor. She is one of those people who keep dragging a joke until it begins to look like a mythical narrative. Daring, spontaneous and ambitious, Mani is the assistant to a renowned astrophysicist and somewhat legendary Aravind Acharya (Nassar). While people underestimate Mani, he keeps hatching plan after plan, and you can’t really blame him, as poverty in a chawl can be excruciatingly painful.
Director Mishra makes sure we get to see Mani’s humble lifestyle around the skyscrapers, but he keeps twisting the plots before a final opinion is formed on him. After a long time, Siddiqui has put his now famous cynical laugh and disapproving body language behind him to play a character who is ready to take a beating for the sake of fun.
There is a board at his workplace, the Institute for Theory and Research, which is used to display quotes from renowned scientists. Just leave out one name and put another under a quote to keep it for another day. He sees a man on the seashore and tells his wife what that person might be thinking before committing suicide, and just as the poor woman begins to believe him, the other man walks past her nonchalantly. In the middle of a conversation, he switches to Tamil only to piss off his arrogant and disrespectful Brahmin chief. And he’s quite comfortable doing it, like all he cares about is some fun and a little more privacy. It’s hard to understand the people around him, but for the audience, he’s the best thing to come with Unlock 5.
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The moment that Mani has been waiting for his whole life comes with his son’s sudden popularity as a math prodigy. He begins to weave theories around the genius of the child and it is difficult to know how much of that is not correct. But that’s Mani for you, live one more day, another victory.
It’s like no other movie Mishra or Siddiqui have made. While staying close to Jospeh’s skepticism about the idea of a just society, they have made the film their own by infusing an indomitable spirit and a certain kind of intelligence, rather cunning, into the storytelling. Whenever Mishra turns political, Siddiqui makes sure it doesn’t become a sermon to your face. Similarly, Mishra channels Siddiqui’s uncontrollable energy in a certain direction where everything except greed seems useless.
On top of everything, Mani categorically says: “Primitive minds. I can’t deal with you. “
It is rudimentary but profound, simple but penetrating, serious but fun. Not surprisingly, they have called him Serious Men. These are very funny or funny men. One of the best movies of the year. Don’t even think about skipping it.
Rating: 4/5
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