Serious Men (Netflix)
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shweta Basu Prasad, Nassar
Director: Sudhir Mishra
Rating: 3/5
I can't deal with primitive minds, thunders Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin) from the dingy confines of his Mumbai chawl. The Tamil Dalit has managed to crawl up the social ladder a bit, but is still a doormat for his Brahmin astrophysicist boss (Nassar).
So Mani begins conspiring against the world, demanding his pound of status. The pawn in the plot is his son Adi, a whiz-kid who is equally at ease with maths and microbes. Soon the spotlights are on, and the media is at the doorstep to interview the genius in gutter.
Based on a novel by Manu Joseph, 'Serious Men' is a satire that holds true in the current sociopolitical environment. From politicians to scientists to street urchins, almost everyone can pull off a fraud and con the nation. So we have mega studies to dissect dotted condoms and balloon missions to probe 'microbes ki mahamari' on the stratosphere.
While it takes just a few phone calls for the privileged to get what they want, it takes at least four generations for the oppressed to clear the smallest of hurdles. But nobody flashes the victim card here. Everyone pays back in the same coin. And that's the beauty of Sudhir Mishra's latest, with no frills.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, as usual, is a delight as the common man who resents and aspires. He transforms into Ayyan Mani, a critique of the broken system and its lopsided structure, who eventually joins the circus to survive.
'Serious Men' (with its share of the not-so-serious) also takes a dig at our education system that rewards students who mug up and spit out. Mani also subscribes to this rote at some point in time.
Never mind, he just wants to update his life from '2G' to '4G' (fourth-generation elite).