Ok, lets begin this review with a rant shall we? In the times that we are living in, the country has stooped to its lowest yet. There have been heinous crimes committed with acquittals and the media being a total circus. Also, there was this advertisement on TV that caught my attention for the wrong reason. There is a new app in town that trains your 7 year old to make android apps of his own, and in the Ad there were investors fighting for him. A word to the parents – Please don’t fall for this bulls**t. Let your kids be kids. Allow them to play their age, teach them values instead. Allow them to fail, for failure with teach them bigger lessons. Just a small plea -PLEASE! We need them to be better citizens of the world and not just tech-savvy or educated. Why did I rant if you may ask? Because I have finished watching Serious Men on Netflix that tackles a similar subject. Is it worth your time, lets find out.

In the interest of the film, I will not be revealing the story of Serious Men as anything that I say will act as a spoiler. But let me tell you, the trailer had not even scratched the surface for what the film is about. Based on a book by the same name written by Manu Joseph, the story is dark and socially relevant, very relevant actually. The screenplay is just so perfectly written that it has left me in awe. The black humour is generously sprinkled throughout with so many social issues cleverly integrated in the run-time. It makes you laugh but towards the end the emotions come through and you start feeling sorry for the child. The message at the end is extremely important too! The dialogues are cleverly penned. The music and BGM are outstanding. Director Sudhir Mishra has done a phenomenal job, never letting the things get heavy, yet just showcasing a mirror of what our society has transpired into. He never gets preachy and so distinction marks for his direction.

Vidhi Chitalia as Oparna has some good screen presence. Sanjay Narvekar as the local politician is first rate. Shweta Basu Prasad as Anuja(and she is on a roll by the way with two more releases this month) is such a natural actor and hope she keeps getting such good work. Nasser as Acharya is very effective. Aakshat Das as the little Adi is so good and so natural that towards the end he really tugs the strings of your heart with his performance. Your heart cries out in pain for him. His mother essayed by Indira Tiwari is excellent and her interactions with Nawaz steal the show. Nawazuddin Siddiqui has definitely upped his acting game by a few notches actually. As Ayyan he is phenomenal.

Serious Men is a movie not to be missed. It is socially relevant and one of the best movies of the quarantine season. Perhaps the best Indian movie on Netflix(along with Cargo). Highly Highly Highly Recommended!

PS : Just keep watering your little buds and watch them bloom! No stress!