Bollywood Hollywood

You might not hear anyone brag about wanting to watch Mohandas and honestly it doesn’t come as a surprise. The film doesn’t boast of a popular starcast nor has it been marketed extravagantly. But let’s not forget that being different is the flavour of the season and some of the best films this year like Dev.D, Love Aaj Kal and Kaminey have been appreciated because of their unconventional storyline. Mohandas might not be in the same league but it is certainly different.

Meghna Sengupta (played by Sonali Kulkarni), a correspondent from New Delhi, receives a videotape from Annupur a remote village in Madhya Pradesh. On the tape, a battered man claiming to be the ‘real’ Mohandas, alleges that some imposter has stolen his identity. With the help of fake certificates and documents the fake has not only stolen his identity but also his job at Oriental Coal Mines in Madhya Pradesh.

Intrigued by this strange accusation Meghna, a journalist by profession, decides to investigate against the wishes of her channel heads.

What she unearths is a bizarre and surreal tale that takes a new twist at every corner. Together with the local district lawyer Harshvardhan (played by Aditya Shrivastav), Meghna tries to unravel the mystery. Their quest for justice and the web of corruption they get entangled in, forms the crux of the story.

Red Tapism, forged certificates and documents are not new a phenomenon that the audience needs to be introduced to. People are well aware of the corruption prevalent at the higher echelons. But the writer of Mohandas, Uday Prakash, tries to bring to our notice (and succeeds to a certain extent) that the nexus of criminality eventually affects the innocent, the Mohandas, in our society.

Mohandas is a noble film and the director Mazhar Kamran – a consummate cinematographer of films like Satya and Kaun – simplistically yet immaculately captures the essence of rural India. Some of the shots are brilliant.

The attention to detail gone into the making of this film is also commendable. The film absorbs the local culture of Annupur- right from the dialect to the constant references to Kabir in their conversations.

Mohandas is not as much a film about Mohandas than it is about the people who are solely responsible for his plight and those who try to resurrect him from his unfortunate situation.

The interaction between the cast produces some of the finest moments in the film. Take for example the scene the cameraman, whose sole purpose is to get into a good news agency in New Delhi, tries to sensationalise Mohandas’ plight leaving him all the more dejected in the bargain.

We are a need-based society and no one wants to help unless they have something to gain from it. These little satirical jabs reinforces that notion and stays with you even after the film is over.

However Mohandas, is not without its flaws. The languid pace of the film acts as the real villain out here. The screenplay is excessively slow and even though the film is barely two-hours long, it seems like you’ve come out watching another Ashutosh Gowariker periodic drama.

It’s disappointing to see an unconventional plot being burdened with stereotypical characters. Sonali Kulkarni’s track as an honest and earnest journalist, bothered about small-town nobody seems contrived. You fail to empathise with the earnestness of her quest.

Nakul Vaid’s rendition as Mohandas is restrained but good enough. Sushant Singh looks ever so menacing as the imposter and it’s difficult to take your eye off him once he’s on screen. Sharbani Mukherji also does a good job. But it’s Aditya Shrivastav who makes a lasting impression in his minimalistic role as a district lawyer.

Mohandas is a good film; make no mistake about it. But you fail to comprehend if the movie was meant to be satirical or hard-hitting in nature. The result being that once you’re done watching the film you don’t feel (even though you want to) for the protagonist and the ordeal he’s been put through.