Masaan review
In the cinema hall (which was a full house on the Saturday night show) the audience (including me) felt a rare connection with the on-screen characters of the film; felt genuinely disturbed by their misfortunes and heartily laughed with them at their joy.
My ratings: 4/5.
At the time when big guns like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Baahubali are ruling the box-office, one would be surprised by the profound impact a relatively low budget film like Masaan can make on the audience.
There is a certain honesty about Masaan that eventually grows on you and within it’s 100 min screen time, the film compels you to relate to it’s characters.
May be it’s the power of the script (written by Varun Grover), or may be the boldness of the dialogues and the aptness of the poetry or is it simply the credit of director (Neeraj Ghaywan) or can it be the brilliant performances by each and every actor that make the film so real?
Most probably, it’s all of these factors combined together that make Masaan such a strong emotional cinema.
Shot in Varanasi, small stories and incidents are threaded together like precious little pearls and the thread being the holy river Ganges!
Richa Chadda (who proved herself in films like Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Gangs of Wasseypur) plays the part of a guilt-ridden daughter seeking an independent life where as Sanjay Mishra (after his brilliant role in the film Ankhon Dekhi) portrays the desperate father afraid of losing his social standing and morality.
And then there is the innocence of first love between the teenagers from different caste Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi (both played to perfection).
Pankaj Tripathy as the railway booking clerk and the child actor Nikhil Sahni suited their roles perfectly.
I think casting director Mukesh Chhabra did a terrific job here.
Music by Indian Ocean and Bruno Coulais perfectly complements the script. And the beautiful poetry by various renowned poets cleverly weaved into the story-line adds a certain depth to the film.
Masaan, though often a bit predictable, has a soul of it’s own that reaches out to you.
No wonder Neeraj Ghaywan, the debutante director has won the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics Prize) and the Prix Un Certain Regard (Young talent, innovative and audacious works) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Cinema lovers – don’t you dare miss this film.