Film: 'Mohandas'; Cast: Nakul Vaid, Sonali Kulkarni, Sharbani Mukherjee, Sushant Singh; Director: Mazhar Kamran; Ratings: ***

Based on a true story, 'Mohandas' is about a shy young poverty-stricken man, played by Nakul Vaid, from a backward community who gets a much-coveted government job, only to have another cunning man (Sushant Singh) assume Mohandas's identity and take over the job.

The hapless man runs from pillar to post trying to prove his identity. The well-crafted leisurely-paced narration comes to a point where Mohandas must prove his very existence.

Such incidents of job forgery are prevalent in small towns.

Director Mazhar Kamran gets major help from writer Uday Prakash in piecing together the curious case of Mohandas. What could have been a bland documentary-like tale of government bungling is turned into an engaging thriller where we the audience wonder how something so outrageous could happen in contemporary times.

Cleverly, the character of the television journalist (Sonali Kulkarni) takes us through Mohandas's strange and disturbing journey of self-negation. Sonali's reactions become ours. And we become one with the character's pathetic plight.

Ironically the film's biggest strengths become its weaknesses.