Serious Men (2020)

Tormented with his 'under-privileged' societal status, a father capitalizes on his son's newfound fame as a boy-genius. Little does he realize that the secret he harbors will destroy the very thing he loves the most.

Director:

Sudhir Mishra

Writers:

Niren Bhatt (additional screenplay), Manu Joseph (Based on the book by)

Stars:

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nassar, Aakshath Das

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nawazuddin Siddiqui	...	Ayyan Mani
Nassar	...	Dr. Arvind Acharya (as M. Nasser)
Aakshath Das	...	Adi Mani
Indira Tiwari	...	Oja Mani
Sanjay Narvekar	...	Keshav Dhavre
Shweta Basu Prasad	...	Anuja Dhavre
Kasturi Jangam	...	Sayali (as Kasturi Jagdish Jangam)
Bhakti Pathare	...	Amrita
Vidhi Chitalia	...	Oparna
Udhayabanu Maheshwaran	...	Nambodari (as Udayabanu Maheshwaran)
Pathy Aiyar	...	Udayan - Ministry Official
Sameer Khakhar	...	Ganesh Tawade (as Samir Khakhar)
Sharad Jadhav	...	Satish
Sushil Verma	...	Ganesh PA
Mayukh Ghosh	...	Scientist

Storyline

Tormented with his 'under-privileged' societal status, a father capitalizes on his son's newfound fame as a boy-genius. Little does he realize that the secret he harbors will destroy the very thing he loves the most.

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Plot Keywords:

son | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The journalist who questions Acharya in the first conference is the novel writer Manu Joseph himself

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Quotes

Adi Mani: I can't deal with primitive minds like you!

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Crazy Credits

The title doesn't appear until the 13-minute mark.

User Reviews

Bit Quirky, But Largely Humdrum Social Drama / 6 Stars

The kid (Aakshath Das) shines in Serious Men, a social drama that reminded me of Malayalam comedy Salt Mango Tree (2015), and which is more about the stress that children feel at the hands of their ambitious and competitive guardians and less about class divide despite the montages that show otherwise. Here, the kid's father (Nawazuddin SIddiqui), hailing from a backward caste and having an antagonistic view of the world, uses the caste card and his child to aim for the stars, garnering applause and hollow fame on the way. But for what? Serious Men goes on to throw social commentary at you on how the rich and the influential act as parasites on the downtrodden with ample amounts of quirky humour and useless fillers. But, notably, it also gives you a peek into the ill effects of over ambition, giving a spine-tingling climax to an otherwise humdrum proceedings. Siddiqui, Indira Tiwari, and Nasser are all well-directed by Sudhir Mishra, who has finally had a good comeback since Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011). If you are not ready to accept what Serious Men tells, and not preaches, you, this will be a fine afternoon affair. A better watch to parents with young kids. TN

Details

Official Sites:

production house website

Country:

India

Language:

English Hindi

Release Date:

2 October 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

Serious Men

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cine Raas Entertainment, Bombay Fables Motion Pictures, Netflix

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min