While the social media keeps us updated about the glitzy life of the A list stars, there's a whole section of the industry about which the common masses remain unaware of. The actors who play bit roles too are as much passionate about acting as their better-known peers.

In the opening scene we see Sudheer (Sanjay Mishra), a 499 films side-actor, struggling to get interviewed because cinema is a ghost from the past for him. A past which he served entirely and dedicatedly to be a sidekick of lead heroes. He realises he is just one film away from doing 500 films in Bollywood.

Back in the 80s and 90s, Sudheer (Sanjay Mishra) was an 'aloo' - a moniker given to character actors - and while he has enjoyed his fair share of popularity for his larger-than-life roles, Sudheer is now a recluse. However, an unsuccessful video interview with the media stirs up old memories and instils a new ray of hope in his heart, to reach a new benchmark and face the camera, even if it is for one last time

When Sanjay Mishra breaks free from his comedic gigs and has a go at a meaty, meaningful role, he makes its count. In Hardik Mehta's lively Kaamyaab, which is a touch rough around the edges but bathed in a consistently warm glow, the versatile actor raises his game several notches and delivers sheer brilliance.

Hardik Mehta's feature debut puts the sidekick in the driver's seat. Kaamyaab stars Sanjay Mishra as Sudheer, who has graduated from no-name cast member to the actor in the background as the hero goes about his business to the talent that stands on the left or right side of the leading man.

Like Sholay's Samba became popular for saying a single dialogue in the film -- 'Pure pacchas hazaar' -- Kaamyaab's Sudheer has the same trajectory in his career. Despite having 499 movies to his credit, he's known for his dialogue, 'Just enjoying life, aur option kya hai.' Director Hardik Mehta starts the movie with two contexts of the same dialogue and sums up the life of a character actor in one go.

Casting Mishra as an erstwhile character actor with 499 movie roles to his credit was an inspired move. Mishra, out of the shadow of any Bollywood superstar headliner, sheds his leaning on over-the-top comedy to inhabit Sudheer's world.

A realistic hardscrabble story of a character actor runs the risk of turning either too dull, or too exaggerated. Hardik Mehta skates the thin line between drama and drabness so adroitly that the film feels both enervated and energised at the same time.

Birbal, Lilliput, Manmauji, Veeju Khote. All together at a bar, sharing a drink. That one shot is the entire raison d'tre of Kaamyaab written all over it - not to talk of the sheer nostalgia that it is soaked in - in a casual, throwaway manner. Hardik Mehta's ode to the side-actor of the 70s-80s-90s cinema kicks off well.