Masaan


Masaan is a 2015 drama film directed by Neeraj Ghaywan. The directorial debut film is an Indo-French co-production produced by Drishyam Films, Macassar Productions, Phantom Films, Sikhya Entertainment, Arte France Cinema and Pathé Productions. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival winning two awards. Ghaywan previously assisted Anurag Kashyap on Gangs Of Wasseypur. The film was screened at the inaugural New York Dalit Film and Cultural Festival in 2019 along with Pariyerum Perumal, Kaala and Fandry.

Plot

Set in present-day Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, the plot of Masaan follows two seemingly separate stories that converge eventually.
The first of these tells the story of trainer at a coaching cum computer centre Devi Pathak. The film opens with her and her student, Piyush Aggarwal, checking into a hotel room. They are interrupted during sex when policemen burst in, having been tipped off by hotel staff who suspected Devi and Piyush were indulging in "indecent behaviour". Inspector Mishra records the barely clad Devi on his mobile phone while Piyush locks himself in the bathroom and commits suicide by slitting his wrists. Devi and her father Vidyadhar are subjected to blackmail by Inspector Mishra, who demands a hefty bribe of to hush up the matter. In desperate need of money, Vidyadhar begins to indulge in a betting game, where people bet on small boys to dive and collect the maximum number of coins from the Ganges riverbed within a specified time. He lets people bet on Jhonta, an orphan who works for him after Jhonta volunteers himself for the game. Meanwhile, Devi has to switch jobs due to the stigma associated with her having pre-marital sex. She eventually gets a government job in the railways in Varanasi, but news regarding her pre-marital sexual indulgence reaches there as well.
The second narrative concerns Deepak Kumar, a Varanasi boy from the Dom community whose family works in cremation ghats by burning funeral pyres. Deepak wants to transcend the restrictions of a casteist society. He studies civil engineering at a polytechnic college where he meets and falls in love with Shaalu Gupta, a high caste Hindu girl. They start meeting each other and during a trip to Allahabad on the banks of the Ganges, they share an intimate moment. Back in Varanasi, Deepak tells her about his caste and the work he does burning corpses. Shaalu remains firm and tells him that she will be with him even if her parents refuse. She asks him to focus on his placements and get a job, while she reaffirms her commitment to him.
However, unfortunately, during a pilgrimage trip with her family, Shaalu dies in a ghastly bus accident. Her body with those of other victims ends up at the same cremation ground where Deepak's family works. Deepak is shattered on seeing her dead body and loses all purpose in life. He retains her ring as a souvenir. Deepak is eventually able to overcome his grief and discards Shaalu's ring in the Ganges. He gains a placement as a civil engineer in Allahabad. Later that same ring is picked up by Jhonta who loses consciousness underwater while collecting coins. He regains consciousness in hospital and gives the ring to a remorseful Vidyadhar, who decides to stop playing with Jhonta's life. He sells the ring and is finally able to pay off Inspector Mishra.
Marred by the parochial mindset of people regarding her situation, Devi leaves Varanasi and joins a course in Allahabad University. She pays a visit to Piyush's family only to be slapped by his father. She comes to the banks of the Ganges to immerse the gift Piyush had given her on that fateful day in the hotel. Deepak, who is by the bank, notices her crying and offers her water to drink. A boatman beckons, offering both of them a ride towards Sangam. They both board the boat and strike up a conversation.

Cast

The music for Masaan's songs was composed by Indian Ocean and the songs were written by the lyricist Varun Grover. The album received positive response from critics.
The film contains various examples of Hindi poetry at different junctures including works by Akbar Allahabadi, Basheer Badr, Brij Narayan Chakbast, Mirza Ghalib, Uday Prakash and Dushyant Kumar. Explaining this as a conscious tribute, the film's lyricsist Varun Grover explained that he wanted to show Shaalu as a person whose hobby is to read Hindi poetry and shaayari, as this is a common hobby of millennial and generation x youngsters in Northern India, especially when in love, but this aspect is rarely shown in Hindi films.
The song is based on the work of the poet Dushyant Kumar.

Reception

Critical response

Masaan received overwhelming critical acclaim from the mainstream media. Calling it "a very engaging debut" by Neeraj Ghaywan, Allan Hunter in Screen Daily wrote, "Vicky Kaushal brings a gauche charm to Deepak and Richa Chadda invests the long suffering Devi with a weary, unwavering determination to move forward. Cinematographer Avinash Arun Dhaware captures some fantastic images of Banares that convey the bustling spirit of the city from the brightly lit street markets to the flurry of sparks that dot the night sky from the funeral pyres." Deborah Young writing in The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a classically poignant drama of star-crossed love" and "part of the new generation of indie films whose clear intent is to set ablaze a hidebound society’s constrictions on personal liberty." Jay Weissberg in his review for the Variety magazine, however, found it "a heartfelt yet overambitious tale of class and gender inequality" with the director failing to find "ways to overcome script and editing weaknesses, resulting in a disappointing drama."
Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta wrote in his National Interest column that Masaan left a deep impression on him, "get the pulse of small-town India as no other I have seen." The director has woven Ganga intimately into Varun Grover's tight screenplay, Gayatri Gauri wrote in First Post adding "Several crucial moments swirl around the Ganga, beautifully shot without succumbing to visual exotica, and after you leave the cinema, they linger in your memory, like the flames dying slowly in the cremation grounds where so much of Masaan unfurls."
Shubra Gupta wrote in The Indian Express, "Masaan is imbued with a sense of place and time, poetry and lyricism, and it captures the essence of Banaras, constant-yet-changeable, with felicity and feeling. It also announces the arrival of new talents in its writer and director: Grover’s story is eminently worth telling, and Ghaywan tells it beautifully." "Ghaywan, in his very first film, creates a deeply affecting world that devastates and uplifts at the same time, and that becomes a part of your world long after the film is over," wrote Nikhil Taneja reviewing the film for The Huffington Post.

Controversy

The film released for streaming on Hotstar was found to be heavily censored which caused a controversy against the streaming platform and the producers of the film.

Accolades