Portrait of an Average Man (1984)

07/12/1984

Overview

In this rather routine, made-for-television movie by famed Indian director Mrinal Sen, an employee (K.K. Raina) in a large office is suddenly facing unemployment because his bosses have found him guilty of negligence. He is devastated, but he cannot lose his job since he is the only support of his family. Interspersed with the employee's efforts to convince his boss, in several different ways, that he cannot be fired are direct dialogues with the author (Shyamanand Jalan) who created the character of the employee. In these latter conversations, the employee berates his creator for giving him an impossible, no-win situation — he has no control over his fate.