‘Masaan’ Movie Review – Bollywood Bubble

Directed by: Neeraj Ghaywan
Produced by: Anurag Kashyap, Vikram Motwane, Vikal Bahl, Guneet Monga
Cast: Richa Chadda, Sanjay Mishra, Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi
Duration: 1 hours 49 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 4/5

Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Masaan‘ meaning crematorium, is a multi-layered portrait of repression and rebellion set against the funeral pyres of a Varanasi cremation ghat. Neeraj Ghaywan, debut director of Masaan, understands that Ganga plays an important role in the life of the people, who live near it’s banks and has woven it intricately in his script.

The movie depicts the story of two youngsters, Devi and Deepak. Devi (Richa Chadda) is caught in a situation where she is paying the price of an ‘indulgence’ with Piyush (Saurabh Chadhary) she was attracted to. The two are caught by the police in a hotel room and later Devi and her father Vidyadhar Pathak (Sanjay Misra), are blackmailed by Inspector Misra (Bhagwan Tiwari).

Love Blossoms through Facebook and long phone conversations between poetry-loving Shalu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi) and a passionate, ambitious engineering student Deepak (Vicky Kaushal) from a low caste Dom family of corpse burners. Though they fear that the caste-system could divide them, they dream about a happy ending in the long run.

Ghaywan’s film moves in an unhurriedly manner, occasionally tugging at your heartstrings. It has adeptly captured the urgency with which India’s youngsters from small towns discover Facebook, forbidden fruit and freedom.

Richha Chadda, who made an impressive mark in Gangs of Wasseypur, has portrayed a fascinating combination of vulnerability, rebelliousness and strength. Sanjay Mishra, as always, makes every moment of silence count.

The performances of the entire cast including that of the child actor Nikhil Sahni are praiseworthy. The performance, direction, camera work all are outsanding.

Do watch it.