Serious Men(2020)- Review

Serious Men is yet another attempt by Netflix to create a quality film independent of the traditional production houses, in Hindi for the Indian market as they did with Roma in Mexico. But this film too can be added to the failed attempts list of Netflix.

Serious Men centers around Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a smart and intelligent man yet uneducated and by his own accounts unprivileged, and his attempts to make sure his son has all the ‘privileges’ that he was not fortunate enough to have and make sure his son lives a better life than he did. As simple as the above task seems, Ayyan makes it a little too complicated with a few white lies and rule breaking.

The story lacks depth and is a further reminder that, in the modern era of Indian entertainment films only with renowned actors will still fail if the film doesn’t have a good story and a strong screenplay. As has been the case for some time now Nawazuddin’s acting is unquestionable which brings life to the character. The film almost accurately depicts the lifestyle and living conditions of families that are not well of in challenging and fast paced cities of modern times. But that’s about it as far as compliments to the film go. The film starts of well with a good portrayal and peculiarity of Nawazuddin’s character and feels like a unique story building up, but it seems too unique for one’s liking and the film loses interest & attention of the viewer about halfway through the movie.

So all things considered you won’t be missing out on a lot if you choose to avoid this movie, with better options on Netflix to spend your spare time.

Acting- 7.5

Casting- 6.5

Cinematography- 8

Dialogue- 7.5

Directing- 8.5

Editing & Effects- 6

Sound & Music- 5

Story- 5

Storytelling- 5.5

Rating- 6.5