Mohandas - Movie Review

Mohandas is not Mohandas. And then again, Mohandas is who he says he is. And if he isn't him, then who is he?

Mohandas - Movie Review

What's it about: Mohandas is not Mohandas. And then again, Mohandas is who he says he is. And if he isn't him, then who is he?

Sounds confusing? Well, here's a short version. Mohandas (Vaid) is a bright student with the promise of a great future.
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He applies for a job and gets selected, even. After the interview, though, there's no news of an appointment for months together.
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Curious, he goes to the office and gets kicked out. He learns, in time, that there's someone working there, in his stead.

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A local cameraman, a fiery local lawyer, a star reporter from a Delhi news channel and a sympathetic district magistrate try getting him justice. And after short-lived successes, give up or are forced to.

What's hot and what's not: Well, identity theft is a very real and very frightening prospect that manifests itself among the poor and marginalised. The film draws you in with a simple story; well-told in a few parts but patchily plodded in most.
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Troublingly, the film bases its premise on the fact that Mohandas is expected to file in originals of all his relevant documents. No-one does that.
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You're expected to bring them along, but nobody retains them. It doesn't happen in private companies (as far as I know) and I seriously doubt it does in government entities.

Besides, has Mohandas never heard of duplicates? Also, if he was a topper (and as some in his village scream outu2026 'photu dekha'), wouldn't he feature in newspapers at the time? Doesn't he have a ration card, at least?
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Doesn't that count as hard evidence? What about the classes he attended? The teachers he made proud? Surely, all of them couldn't be paid to shut up or be killed off.

Fiery lawyer, Harshvar-dhan (Aditya)? Where is his fire in court? The judge keeps threatening to strip him of his coat and license to practice (for cooking up witnesses) and the lawyer takes it head down, without so much as a feeble attempt to protest. Guilty as charged?

Kamran's story has its heart in the right place but his story-telling is remarkably weak, full of holes and seems very forced. The film interests you in bits. It leaves you very unsatisfied overall. Hope he finds his touch in his next.

What to do: An unknown India gets a voice, while a man becomes an unknown. It could've worked, if it didn't feel like a film student's project submission. Overbearing and under-effective, Mohandas could've done with more bite.

Mohandas
u/a; drama
Dir: Mazhar Kamran
Cast: Sonali Kulkarni, Nakul Vaid, Sushant Singh, Sharbani Mukherjee, Aditya Shrivastav
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