Browse
a
newspaper
or
surf
news
channels
and
I
am
sure,
you'd
be
enlightened
with
more
than
a
hundred
stories
in
the
course
of
a
day.
But
not
all
stories
have
the
potential
to
be
adapted
for
the
big
screen.
Mohandas
suffers
due
to
this
reason.
Mohandas
is
a
poignant
tale
and
is
well
shot
too,
no
doubt,
but
the
question
is,
does
it
hold
your
attention
for
the
next
2
hours?
In
parts,
yes,
not
in
totality.
At
best,
Mohandas
might
strike
a
chord
in
the
film
festival
circuit,
that's
it!
Catering
to
a
really
miniscule
audience.
Meghna
[Sonali
Kulkarni],
a
correspondent
working
at
a
news
channel
in
New
Delhi,
receives
a
videotape
from
a
remote
place
in
Madhya
Pradesh.
On
the
tape,
a
battered
young
man
claims
to
be
the
real
Mohandas
[Nakul
Vaid]
and
alleges
that
someone
else
has
stolen
his
identity.
Someone
else
is
living
as
'Mohandas'.
Intrigued
by
what
looks
like
an
unusual
small-town
scam,
Meghna
makes
a
trip
to
that
place.
There,
she
unearths
the
true
story.
Mohandas
is
a
topper
in
studies
and
is
overjoyed
when
he
is
selected
for
a
job
in
Oriental
Coal
Mines.
But
he
is
kept
waiting
and
waiting
to
actually
get
the
job.
Long
afterwards,
when
he
has
given
up
and
reconciled
to
it,
he
learns
that
someone
else
has
assumed
his
name
and
has
already
taken
his
job.
When
he
rushes
to
protest,
he
is
beaten
up
and
thrown
out.
Meghna
places
this
story
in
the
media.
Harshvardhan
[Aditya
Srivastava],
a
lawyer
from
the
district,
takes
this
case
of
stolen
identity
to
court
with
the
intention
of
hauling
up
the
usurper.
But
will
things
change?
In
most
cases,
the
choice
of
the
subject
is
right,
but
the
director
makes
mincemeat
of
it.
But
in
this
case,
debutante
director
Mazhar
Kamran
makes
a
sincere
attempt
to
narrate
this
unconventional
story
well.
A
number
of
sequences
are
truly
well
executed,
especially
the
end,
which
comes
as
a
shocker.
But,
at
the
same
time,
Mazhar
should've
restricted
the
narrative
to
1.30
hours,
instead
of
almost
2
hours.
Also,
after
a
point,
it
becomes
one
of
those
films
that
depict
the
good
in
good
light
and
the
corrupt
in
bad
light.
In
short,
it
gets
bland
and
monotonous!
Nakul
Vaid
plays
his
part
very
well.
Sushant
Singh
doesn't
get
scope,
but
nonetheless
leaves
an
impact.
Sharbani
Mukerji
has
transformed
herself
well
for
this
part.
Sonali
Kulkarni
gets
her
role
right.
Aditya
Srivastava,
as
always,
is
competent.
Govind
Namdeo
is
first-rate.
Sameer
Dharmadhikari
gets
no
scope.
Uttam
Haldar
is
proficient.
On
the
whole,
Mohandas
is
a
well-intentioned,
well-made
film,
but
it
will
have
a
tough
time
standing
on
its
feet
due
to
lack
of
face-value
and
also
multiple
releases.
Story first published: Friday, September 4, 2009, 14:39 [IST]