Ayyan Mani (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is an ordinary man, leading an ordinary life. Professionally, he is the PA to Dr. Acharya (Nasser) the lead scientist at NIFR and is absolutely convinced that his boss is fooling the world with his wacky research on alien microbes but puzzled about how convincing and confident the latter is, in getting away with lies. With the birth of Mani's son Adi, he hatches a grand plot of exhibiting his slow learner kid to the world as a prodigy and a genius in the making, thus achieving the extraordinary aspiration of societal recognition and adulation.
Adi grows confident due to Mani's incessant guidance, illegitimate mechanisms for catapulting him to fame and popularity, using which the latter gains the recognition that he otherwise would never have achieved. It's a grand secret between the father and the son, but like all good things, it must come to an end. The repressed childhood of Adi, and his inability to act without assistance slowly starts getting to the child, something that can potentially destroy him mentally. Mani has to find an exit strategy to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Adi, and is ready to pay the price for it.
Serious Men, directed by Sudhir Mishra is a tale of a twisted mind that refuses to succumb to the ordinary and will go to any length to realize his dreams, by hook or by crook. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is par excellence as the master manipulator, who is least concerned about the lack of maturity of the young mind, piling on agony on the child with psychological overload. But Serious Men belongs to the child artist Akshath Das, who absolutely captivates with his charm, innocence and complex psychological emotional demonstration, especially when he is unable to handle the burden any longer. Serious Men is a diabolical essay that waltzes on the screen in the garb of a socio-comic drama that gradually returns the young mind to sanity and normalcy, but not without collateral damages. It does leave some important messages for parents who overload their children to rise to the competitive world, without being preachy.
