Review by J@ck : TENET

 

"Tenet is Christopher Nolan's latest most mind-bending film exactly the kind of palindromic timeline puzzle to take your mind off."

                     Tenet uses a timeline structure, that means that all the events of the story including the act of time travel itself are all fixed and predestined on a loop. They always happened the time travel is what sets the events of the story in motion usually, it features a character suddenly realizing whoa this always happened , however. Unlike other predestined loop time travel stories like the terminator the time travel often and is not an instantaneous jump to the past. It is time inversion you have to continue to live and age in real-time while the world reverses around you until you get back to your return point. You can also just invert objects and then invert them back in time so that those objects continue to exist further and further into the past for others or for your younger self to find bullets.

                     Let's give an overview of this story, in the future a scientist creates an algorithm to invert all of the time but like J Robert Oppenheimer who lived with guilt over his work in the manhattan project this scientist encoded this algorithm into nine physical artifacts scattering each artifact around the world inverting them buried in radioactive hotspots hoping that no one would ever go near those spots and she took her own life to keep this secret. But when the soviet union collapsed a man named Andre Sater took a job digging up plutonium from a test site. And he dug up a container with gold and instructions to a mass his resources and track down all pieces of this algorithm seder works on behalf of others in the distant future who want this man in the past to compile the algorithm artifacts and bury them in a tunnel caved in by an underground detonation in the soviet secret city of stalsk12 where that algorithm would stay buried and undisturbed for 200 years so that future bad guys could dig it up use that algorithm to continue that scientist's work.  In the worst possible way inverting all of time to counteract the effects of things like global warming saving their future by destroying our present.

                         A majority of Christopher Nolan’s films are about his protagonists trying to grapple with a reality that’s out of their control. In inception, Cobb lost his wife and cannot return to his children; Interstellar has Cooper trying to find an alternative to Earth, and in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Bruce Wayne fights, both his inner and real demons. The common thread is that they are all men hackled to an indeterminate universe. Fundamentally, Tenet is a retread of those ideas. The only difference here, however, is that this one is soulless. Tenet is clearly Christopher Nolan’smost self-indulgent film. It is what Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood was to Tarantino and The Irishman to Scorsese. There is a lot to say about filmmakers who are fascinated by their own style of work. Without revealing too many details, here, we have an unnamed protagonist played by John David Washington navigating this obtuse realm of time in order to prevent the world from experiencing a war that already took place in the future. It’s essentially an Asimovian spin to the Bond and Bourne genre of espionage. Nolan alternates between exposition and let-me-riddle-your-brain moments far too often. His obsession with time exists beyond the confines of the story. Everything moves extremely swiftly — if you blink your eyes even for a second, you may miss an entire conversation. In all fairness, however, Tenet is one of Nolan’s most impressive ideas. Ignoring the pseudo-scientific babble, this film massively deals with time looping and inversion, like the Escher-esque Möbius strip that you may remember from Endgame. The problem, though, arises when you realize that Nolan is a tad too delighted by this idea. He sacrifices effective and structured storytelling on the altar of the scientific exhibitions. After a point, it only comes off as intellectual grandstanding — basically, all sizzle no steak. At the core of every film he has made, there has been a strong emotional layer attached to it. He’s been able to surgically graft every over-the-top saga of his with primal human desires and emotions. But here, even the ingeniousness of Tenet is not enough to salvage the debilitating lack of it.

                   The emotions in the film are ice cold, and for Nolan, this can only be classified as pure narrative neglect — one that you cannot overlook despite all of Tenet’s cinematic panache. His attempt to fill that emotional void, though, is at best unremarkable and at worst, phony. This is where Elizabeth Debicki’s character, Kat comes in — the aristocratic, money-clad damsel in distress whom you’re supposed to feel sad for. I’d much rather have Nolan own up to his lack of zest here than have him conceal it with wishy-washy feminism. This, sadly, is not the end of Tenet’s drabness. After its high-octane opening sequence and a masterfully choreographed fight scene. Were we are officially introduced to time inversion, the film falls flat for over an hour. This also has to do with the fact that Nolan did not even bother to develop his gratuitously violent, ammunition-savvy antagonist— Andrei Sator, played by Kenneth Branagh. Sator, who always has a scowl on his face, terrorizes his wife Kat and with her, the rest of the world with his nuclear wheeling and dealing. Nolan doesn’t get to Sator’s “bad guy” motives until the climax, leaving us high and dry throughout the film. However, Washington and Robert Pattinson, who plays Neil, another secret agent, galvanize their suave, debonair character with absolute ease, carrying parts of the film that they’re not even supposed to. In one scene, as he strode across a covert facility holding a cup of espresso in one hand and a suitcase in another, Washington perfected the ideal masculine image —not too macho, not too smug. And even Pattinson, with his seductively slicked hair and attenuated gestures, easily goes down as one of Hollywood’s most charismatic actors. Together, they make a snappy and dazzling team. I wouldn’t even mind seeing a mini-series just on their homoerotic chemistry either. Even Dimple Kapadia, as the silent industrialist, plays her role with great poise and elegance.

               Tenet’s cinematic glamour would make you believe that Nolan was just warming up with Inception and Dunkirk. The cinematography, coupled with a formidable production design, makes this for a delirious and wild ride. The film’s twin visual components —the architecture and its shots — portrayed a futuristic yet grim look of this world. What did throw me off, however, was its unsparingly loud sound mixing. You will leave the film in the immediate search for cochlear implants. The extent to which you enjoy Tenet will largely depend on your priorities. While his story lacks the heft to carry an overwrought narrative, the film does deserve a watch solely for Christopher Nolan’s audacity and ambition. You can watch Tenet in the theatr's if you feel comfortable doing so. I personally request not to loose opportunity to watch movie on theaters. Please like, share, subscribe if you like the post. Thank you so much.

Verdict : Paid review / Five Star.

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Review by J@ck : Mirzapur 2 review.

 

Mirzapur’s massive fan following is also because of its easy narrative. Not so good guys pitted against bad guys, with frequent burst of abuses and bullets. There isn’t much to ponder about intentions, motives and outcomes. Just go with the flow and enjoy violence of many kinds.

                           It’s been two years since Mirzapur 1 released, After murdering Sweety Gupta and Bablu Panditin front of their respective partners Guddu and Golu, the heir-inapparent of Mirzapur, Munna, recovers from his bullet wounds. He goes back to craving the Mirzapur throne and disappointing hisdon father, Kaleen Bhaiya who is the great Pankaj Tripathi, who in turn has his eyes set on bigger goals, which is the Uttar Pradesh cabinet. Meanwhile, survivors Guddu and Golu, who are heartbroken and angry, recover in the wilderness while planning eternal vengeance on the Tripathi family.

Technically, that’s all there is to ten episodes of Season 2:  it's a nightmare of modern succession, and a story of old-school revenge. It’s also the only direction Mirzapur 2 could have taken. Perhaps that’s a problem inherent to writing sequels of popular dramas. It’s no more about the “what”, so most creators tend to overcompensate with the “how”: multiple new arcs, multiple new characters, shock-value deaths, heartland expletives, macro ambitions. Mirzapur 2 has it all, it's certainly guilty of every one of these crimes, but I like that it remains faithful to its ecosystem. Anything else – like bringing back the dead or drowning in flashbacks – might have felt like a desperate reaction to the popularity of the first season. There may be too much going on, but none of it defies the deep-rooted oppression of its characters.  The series doesn’t go out of its way to reflect a critical urban gaze of 2020, for instance, its secondary Muslim representation in a war of upper-caste Hinduism. The Tripathi's and the Shukla's and the Yadav's remain in the spotlight, but the Maqbool's and the Lala's and the Shabnam's and the Zarina's don’t hijack their mess for the sake of diversity. They remain quietly consequential, restoring the moral balance of Mirzapur, when their counterparts spiral beyond redemption. Unlike Raat Akeli Hai and Gulabo Sitabo, the series tangibly hints at a theme of slow-burning feminism too. The game can be seen here. It’s no gimmick though. The males of Mirzapur are so obsessed with power and deceit and bloodshed and politics, that it’s only natural for the women to emerge out of the shadows, both discreetly and emphatically.

                         Tripathi’s scheming wife, Beena whose played by a terrific Rasika  Duggal , is arguably this season’s most resounding character. On being reduced to a sex toy by her depraved father-in-law, whose played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda, she starts to weaponize the misogyny of the household by exploiting their egos. A grieving Golu, too, has a very refined arc. She is unwavering and haunted in her pursuit of vengeance. Her possessiveness for Guddu is purely primal, she resents him for “forgetting” her late sister, when a new girl enters the fray. While it’s natural to wonder how Season 2 might have looked if the Massey and Pilgaonkar characters had survived that massacre, there’s a distinct kind of cinematic tension about the two less interesting and ill-equipped siblings being forced to become people they’re not. A bookish introvert and a brawny thug are sounds familiar to the concept of tragedy, that everything becomes an exam to earn those tears. But then again, there’s the traffic on this highway. The list of people who have an axe to grindwith the Tripathi’s keeps growing. Consequently, it’s difficult to keep track of the emotional continuity of the main characters. Each time we see Guddu and Golu hiding out in the mansion of a Muslim leader, we have to think hard to recall what their last scene was, and where exactly they stand in their flowchart for revenge. Perhaps that’s where the performances come in. Most of them are functional and smart; because they’re essentially roles within roles, everyone seems to be putting on an act to serve their own agenda. But the advantage of a loose canon like Munna Tripathi –who is again excellently performed by Divyendu Sharma – is that his sheer unpredictability, frees him from the shackles of continuity. It doesn’t matter where he was in the previous scene an episode ago, because his rage and resentment allows Munna to revel in lateral movement. Pankaj Tripathi, as his father Kaleen Bhaiya, doesn’t have the same freedom, but he still manages to overcome the burden of being trapped by a very elaborate plot.

At its core, Mirzapur is easy entertainment under the ruse of a long-form Gangs of Wasseypur experience – it is driven by the physical, by the action, the dialect and the unsubtle twists and morbid humor. But the screenplay isn’t all style. There’s a lot of substance in the way the writing reveals the thematic dualities of simultaneous threads. The script is carefully concepted to deflate the randomness of its offshoots. When the palette is so busy and colourful, these little details run the risk of escaping our attention. But they are also the reason Mirzapur holds such a specific allure – it’s why the series continues to occupy a space that’s one rung higher than mass, but one rung lower than class. Evidently, this balance is a sweet spot for Indian television shows. Fortunately, Mirzapur 2 finds peace in its patterns.

                Mirzapur 2 delivers the fun it promised. They fight, you enjoy, end of story. There is nothing to take back except remembering a few punchlines and using them on your friends. And if you take Mirazpur seriously and think of it as a pertinent comment on UP’s socio-political conditions then you might need a counselling session with Kaleen Bhaiyya. He might ask you to test his home-made pistols! Anyways you are going to enjoy show. The maps are laid out, the soldiers are ready, and the planning has begun. Who will sit on the throne and who will lose? Watch the show to find out.

 

Verdict : Full Unjoy..!

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Review by jack : Criminal Justice

 

                     One of the finest OTT offernig from 2019 and subsequently under-rated as many good content, Criminal Justice is not a binge-able show the pace is inconsistent and the cliffhangers foreseeable, you will find yourself thinking about it well after it is over. Just as you begin watching Criminal Justice — may be an officially licensed Indian adaptation of BBC-produced series Criminal Justice. The first thing that strikes you is, "how can a person like Vikrant Massey play a cab driver?". It's a superficial judgment, coming from years of stereotypical portrayals of blue collar jobs on the Indian small screen, but the show deliberately plays on this. In doing so, they set the tone for a series that is somewhat predictable in plot, but unpredictable in character and entertaining  for sure.

The show then splits into two definitive halves — one follows the criminal trial of the incident, with two lawyers in focus (the hilariously good Pankaj Tripathi as Madhav Mishra, and Mita Vashisht), both of whom work to prove Aditya is innocent; the other follows Aditya's journey in jail and how he transforms from a meek, lanky asthmatic kid into a Bulked-up Badass.

Aditya Sharma is a college student doing his MBA. His family owns a First Cab (play on Uber/Ola) and he sometimes helps out by driving it around during surge pricing to make extra money. One night he picks up a passenger, Sanaya Rath (Madhurima Roy), and she leaves her phone in his cab. When he goes back to her apartment to drop the phone, they hit it off (she's from the same college) and end up sleeping together after a few shots of whiskey and tryst with drugs (looks like Digene but we're told it's MDMA). When Aditya wakes up, he finds that Sanaya has been stabbed multiple times, but he has no memory of it.

As I was watching this series, I realised that they have portrayed the courts & its procedures not in a Bollywood style or in a fancy manner. But, what they have shown is very relatable to real courts & its procedures. Which can be very helpful & interesting for everyone or even for young lawyers who have just stepped into this field and to all law students.  And it depends on indivisual taste  whether you find it entertaining or not.  

 Now, WHY can it be so interesting . I will talk about some incidents from the series from which you can determine that and then decide to watch it or no. Officials like the police officers, public prosecutor, forensics, etc. Seem quite realistic & so impactful, their get up, their acting, etc. Lead character Aditya played by Vikrant Massey  is real portrayal of young mba student and football player. There is no cinematic glorification about his football carrier or academics, no unnecessary subplots given to character to prove stardome is what impressed me most. Mita Vashisht aka Adv. Mandira Mathur is shown as a reputed Senior counsel calm & professional ; Anupriya Goenka aka Nikhat Hussain as her Junior lawyer plays actual amateur assistant . And Pankaj Tripathi aka Adv. Madhav Mishra is shown as that kind of a lawyer who is struggling to get Cases, surrounded with petty matters and hence indulging in jhols for their survival. I am fully impressed with Pankaj Tripathi as his expertise in playing such complex yet simplicity showing roles can be seen truly.

 The main thing which I liked was that they have shown the distinction between a senior counsel, a junior lawyer and a low profile court lawyer very well. They have shown those conversations between Police & lawyers which they usually have, profession favours, their settings. Have you not observed how some lawyers get most of the Cases from a particular police station? How do they get it? Well you know it… Mishra is shown as one of those lawyers. First Courtroom scene starts in the second episode. Set is good, with small courtrooms, stacks of files everywhere, a judge with its stenographer other court staff, not as shown in most Bollywood movies.. This one looks very much like a real Indian court. As we all know, that every person who is arrested by the police must be presented before the Magistrate within 24 hrs. So, the protagonist in the series – Adtiya after being caught by the police with prima facie evidence for Rape & Murder is taken to the Magistrate Court. The Investigating Officer presents the Arrest memo And asks for a date, seeking time for investigation.Its first time I seen this court procedure on screen. Argument between Investigating Officer & accused's Adv. Mishra goes on... The Investigating Officer argues that Evidence can be tampered or Bail jumping may take place if you are into criminal litigation, you know that such grounds are quite common. Tripathi tries to defend, saying the accused doesn't even have a passport so how can he jump Bail. (Defending with such simplicity in that situation impressed me).These words Remand, Arrest memo, Bail jump are used which are not usually used in movies. The Magistrate orders for Police custody/remand for 14 days. Accused's lawyer Mr. Mishra is shown to be just after money and justice for his client is his secondary priority. Until Adv. Mandira Mathur takes his place. His role is quite interesting and looking at his character one can understand how such lawyers despite having struggle for getting Cases make decent amount of money.

On one hearing in ep.5, it starts by calling the name of the case…. “PW/469780/2018” which I was not expecting, because usually in movies they just call as “Case No….!!”. For those who don’t know, PW means Police Warrant case. Also the IPC sections 302,354D,449,353,354,376A. Under which Aditya was booked were also the exact sections under Indian Penal Code. So, I just want to point out that they have researched well and also paid good attention to minute details. There are many other things which they have covered like - How Judges get oftenly changed? How the police use different tactics to strengthen their case?

 How young inmates get sodomised in a Jail is another aspect am impressed with as reality of indian jail peeps through it. And other things too showing the dark side of an indian jail. Exploitation done by local hawaldars. Other sufferings of his Parents, Sister...financial, sociel, etc. All such things were not glorified but presented as it were to be, no extra drama showed here . The only character that retains nuance in Criminal Justice is Jackie Shroff , who plays Mustafa  bha i, a Godfather character in jail who seems to be the senior most and well respected. It's always pleasing to see Jackie Shroff on screen, especially his unique brand of effortless acting. Here he brings his 'Bhiduness'   to his performance and the supporting of  Mustafa bhai played by Jackie Shroff were exact to the point. How thing changed in jail and Adis survival and period change in his character felt so real and without any heroic appeal is what stands plot out.

Criminal Justice tries to market itself as a murder-mystery-cum-procedural-drama, where you can't tell if Aditya is actually guilty or not. But there's no nuance added to this fundamental question in the show. One thing I would like to point is...Closing arguments also know as final arguments were given by Aditya himself, who is the accused. I’am not sure if this is correct or no. What do you think? Is it procedurally correct for an Accused to submit his closing arguments himself and not through a lawyer?? Tell me your answers in the comments below. So, as a whole if I look at it I would say it that this web series is worth watching especially to get to know the problems one could face if indulged in crime. It is interesting and you will enjoy it too. Yeah, there may be some small mistakes…but we can understand that...as they are actors and not lawyers. But, if you find any such mistakes then do mention it in the comments below. Subscribe to the channel and share this blog with as many people as you can.

VERDICT : Unjoy...!

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"V" telugu movie review.

 

                   Hi Everyone! Today we are going to talk about "V" ..!  The story itself feels about watered version of FBI manhunt operation , where you are expected to emathise with the killer. Why ..? Because it is a Telugu film at all, and if a top star is portrayed as an anti-hero, he cannot be a diabolical person at any cost.Telugu industry has given us some great crime thrillers to us in the recent years HIT, Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya, Evaru are all examples for it Because of that the recent amazon prime release "V" starring Nani and Sudheer Babu had created a big hype On top of that, the build up towards Nani's 25th movie added to it! Through movies like Eega , MCA Nani is quite well known in Kerala In addition, through movies like Jersey and Gentleman he have created a small growing fanbase in Kerala Maybe if a Telugu actor had to shift his style and base to suit Kerala "Natural Star" Nani would be the one who finds it most easy .

              The cinema was promoted as a full on Mass Masala - Crime Thriller. After watching the movie the major drawback I felt was , also the same While focussing on being a Mass masala. It seems as if somehow it forgot to be a crime thriller cultural reference ahead, Lost in translation :) instead of saying "The sambar is boiling for no reason" despite adding loads of mass and masala it's apt to say that old reused story thread , didn't let the sambar boil well enough!.

Music and background score is good especially songs like Manasu mari and Vasthunna Vachestunna gonna heal your ears , probably damaged due to T-series remixes..

                 I think it's impossible to review this film with 0 spoilers So, without affecting much of the viewing experience I'll go ahead by making small reveals! A young and bold police officer He becomes famous after stoping a riot meanwhile another police officer gets killed. The murderer challenges our famous police officer follow up killings keep happening. A cat and mouse play between police and vilian that's the plot . Didn't you find it boring listening to it? A variety plot never tried before!  As if the director wanted a Vikram Vedha in Telugu and since he couldn't he to his revenge with this! The entire drama reveals around the battle of egos between these two characters., and who is going to emerge as the winner. So far so good . The movie opens to a fight scene On seeing Sudheer Babus's character's level and the way the story goes the director might have felt that there won't be another window for the body show So that was done and dusted at the beginning itself!

Nani is the life and soul of the film and it is his negative act that lifts the spirits of the film. Nani does an action avatar for the first time and he is pretty good. The way he uses his unique dialogue delivery to create a negative effect is amazing. Nani has an amazing screen presence and he uses his swag in the best way possible in the film. One can say that his new avatar is the major plus of the film.Sudheer Babu is a perfect fit in his cop’s role and showcases what he is capable of. He is the hero of the film and takes on Nani in full force. Be it his dances, emotions, or dialogue delivery, Sudheer Babu is good.Nivetha Thomas is okay and looks glamorous in the film. She shares decent chemistry with Sudheer Babu. Aditi Rao comes in the key second part and makes her presence felt. The action sequences or you can say the murders showed are grippingly executed in the first half and raise the curiosity levels.

                 There is no shortage for "Mass" from the get go! After the first flying fight scene apart from boosting Sudheer Babu's character to the sky there is nothing much to complain here Some normal scenes and Nivetha Thomas' intro sped that time window quickly From there we go straight to the first murder, Nani's Intro Oh I forgot to mention the double meaning dance number in between that So, Nani's Intro Stark Midnight! Pitch black, Heavy smoke! through that, Nani enters wearing a cooling glass! From there it begins! feels like watching HIT, 5aam Pathira and Vikram Vedha all together! Let's see the movies flow as per the timeline! A police he becomes famous Gets a random girlfriend oh! don't forget that she's a crime specialist.  Next, Villain's intro Villain Kills Villain calls police Police chases again villain kills calls police police. chases yet again Villain kills calls police police chases going straight into flashback! again..... villain kills calls police police chases.... atlast! Climax twist!

The second half is where the film goes for a toss. Once it goes back into the flashback mode, things become very slow, and routine scenes are showcased at a stretch. One can easily guess that Nani is doing all this with a motto and because of this, his characterization looks weak. Both the love tracks of Nani and Sudheer Babu are very dull and executed in a pale manner.All those who think there will be solid twists will be mistaken as the story is a routine revenge drama with a straight forward and predictable plot. Also, the starting of the film is a bit slow as the makers waste too much time to get into the actual story.The biggest drawback is the climax of the film. After all the hype, one feels that there will be a big twist but sadly that does not happen and the film is ended on a silly note. There should have been a proper masala ending and with good scope to do that, the director does not make use of it and ends the film just like that which disappoints the audience.

 Though things are like that Nani's performance and good camera work helped me watch it without feeling too bored Individual performances of actors were good! But the screenplay was very weak old telugu film references Nani's self references even as far as references from Game of thrones. But why?!! Modern way of code decoding took me back to old malayalam movie Tiger! (Vaapachi's Legacy!) In a summary! flying fights shiny body Variety killings cliche' Story 2 good songs climax twist all make "V" an average generic mass flick You'll know what "V" is once you watch the movie! 

So, for this Lockdown time amazone prime OTT release starring Nani and Sudheer Babu .The movie review that's all the South movie lovers waiting… I know! there are few peoples dares to watch original telugu version with engligh subtitles offcourse. But believe me its  got you best experience when you watch it with actual Audio because dubbing kills the original aura/ feel of the film. With this I have started  a new section, Along with other contents I'll keep on coming back by reviewing other old/new movies/series So if you want me to review your favourites or yet to watch movie/series definitely let me know through the comment box! Also, If you found this video interesting don't forget to Follow and subscribe to show support!

 

Verdict ::  Your time is your time none of my time,,!

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Review by jack : Serious Men

 

“Serious Men is a hilarious and satirical take on society and what we knew about it. A man dealing with  retrospects of understanding the importance of education has aspirations of his child doesn’t needs to deal with same situation, within his journey movie beautifully portrays his experiences and relentless persuade of getting some form of notable Id in society. Shading how every form of society like politician, servants , common man warning for own survival and leading in favour of their own motives. “

                       The movie captures life of blue-collar workers who are  ridiculantly  told to when to give their perspective. The lack of acknowledge of their sheer existence with the meanless case of Nawazuddin. Bsed on Serious Men, the award-winning novel by Manu Joseph, has some exquisitely cruel observations. Early in the story, the protagonist Ayyan Mani deliberates ‘the secret moustaches of women,” and “the terrible green freshness when they have been newly removed with a thread.”  Ayyan himself is described as “A dark, tidy man but somehow inexpensive.” The book, published in 2010, is an unforgiving satire on contemporary India – a twisted tale of ambition, fraud, caste, class, celebrity, infidelity, politics and paternal love. Director Sudhir Mishra and writers Bhavesh Mandalia, Abhijeet Khuman, Nikhil Nair and Niren Bhatt, reduce the sting of the book. The result is a drama with a less curdled view of humanity.

                          The film is designed to make you question but not to make you uncomfortable. It veers between sharp and sagging, but ultimately Nawazuddin Siddiqui and the terrific child actor Aakshath Das steer the story to a satisfying close. Ayyan is a fascinating creation. He’s a bright man, keenly aware of his place in the world. He’s the son of a sweeper, living in a chawl , who works at a prestigious science institute. One of Ayyan’s most acerbic conclusions is that it takes four generations to be able to sit by a pool and do nothing. As he explains to his wife – they are 2G – second generation. Educated but unable to enjoy themselves. Their son Adi will be one step ahead with a corporate job and eventually Adi’s children – the fourth generation - will have everything they desire. Ayyan is determined to accelerate this evolution. He teaches himself English and then uses it to penetrate the rarefied spaces of the upper-class, including fancy five-star hotels. Fueled by a desperate desire to be more and have more, Ayyan schemes and furiously manipulates everyone around him - from his neighbor, who is a peon at the institute, to his boss, the venerated space scientist Arvind Acharya, to his 10-year-old son, Adi. Which doesn’t make Ayyan a villain because everyone else, irrespective of wealth or status, is also hustling. A wily politician and his US-returned daughter use Ayyan and Adi to push through their massive redevelopment project. Acharya wants glory by finding microscopic aliens. Even the principal of Adi’s school, a nun, tries to hard-sell Christianity to the family. Basically, everything is for sale – including suffering. At one point, Adi is posing for cameras, holdinga sign that reads: 100 percent Shuddh Dalit.

                                   In one of the funniest scenes in the film,Ayyan masterfully plays the caste-card in Adi’s school. He calls himself low caste and when the administrator he is speaking to recoils awkwardly, Ayyan says: You can’t say it, but I can. In a single line, he exposes the prejudice being cloaked by civility. It’s deliciously wicked. The plot differs significantly from the novel. Acharya’s extramarital affair with a colleague, which was a turning point in the book, is reduced here to a footnote. The ending is changed and characters are added. Not all the alterations work. The weakest is the father-daughter politician duo. She gets a rudimentary backstory but neither has depth. Ayyan’s barbed voice-over propels the narrative. His vocabulary, which includes the wonderful fusion word chutiastic, is dazzling. But some of the dialogue is awkward.

The emotional core of the film is a lengthy, poignant conversation between Acharya and Ayyan in an art gallery. At the end of which, Acharya says: Your angst is right, but your actions are not. Who speaks like that? Sudhir and his writers bung in twists, which complicate the plot but don’t further the film. I couldn’t figure out the necessity of a thread involving the neighbor and his daughter. But what keeps Serious Men on track is the fraught relationship between Ayyan and Adi. The film veers slightly into Breathe-series territory – how far would you go for your child? The cynical scheming in Manu’s book is replaced by the tortured grief of a father who only wants a better life for his son. And who can grudge him that? Especially when he is played with such full-bodied delight by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Ayyan is duplicitous and downright awful , but Nawazuddin doesn’t allow us to judge him.

                   Ayyan is simply a product of the grotesque world we live in. Watch Nawazuddin’s controlled expressions in the art gallery scene, in which he recounts his past. The horror hits home. Aakshath also does the heavy lifting. He doesn’t overplay Adi’s trauma, which makes it more heartbreaking. Nassar effortlessly becomes Acharya, the voice of reason and authority. And Indira Tiwari as Ayyan’s wife Oja, is well-cast. There's wisdom and weariness on her face – she’s smart enough to understand that her husband isn’t always smart. Looming large over these characters is the BDD Chawl –15,000 people crammed into 21 blocks. The chawl is a concrete embodiment of all that traps Ayyan, his family and everyone who lives there – caste, education, money, opportunities. DOP Alexander Surkala captures the claustrophobia of the one-room tenements, but he also gives the spaces a dream-like quality. In one scene, Ayyan, furious and frustrated, frees the birds caged on the common terrace of the chawl . But unlike them, he needs to do much more to take flight. In Serious Men, Sudhir finds the sweet spot between intricacy, starkness and emotion. There is enough material here for a sequel in which Ayyan Mani runs the world. And I have no doubt that he can. You can watch Serious Men on Netflix India.

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