My Take on Masaan- Bold Concept, Off beat subject, weak storyline.


I went to see Masaan because of the nice build up to its release on the social media.
Masaan won the critics prize in the Un Certain Regard category at the 68th Cannes Film Festival recently. By the way the critics prize runs parallel to the competition for the main prize at the Festival.

Another reason why I went to see Masaan is that I had genuinely wanted to see the movie produced by a member of my alma mater, the Jodhpur University, The main man behind the making of the movie is Manish Mundra, a man who is also one of the most successful CEOs in the Polyster and Petrochemicals businesses. This was the first venture of Manish in the film world.

I saw the movie at Janakpuri's Satyam Complex where the theatre had 50 people watching the movie. The Bajrangi Bhaijan show on its first weekend had about 10 times more people watching the show but then Masaan perhaps cost 5% of what it took Bajrangi Bhaijaan to produce. I made a rapid calculation and concluded that the movie was AT LEAST a moderate success commercially, at least on its first weekend.
I thanked God for being deservedly kind to this Production house,

Now coming to the movie, I found the subject absolutely new and refreshing. A young man studying to complete the Diploma in Engineering by the day lives next to the burial ghat in Benaras with his parents and his brother's family.

The family members are Doms (can I call then Undertakers?) , among the lowliest of castes in the bizarre caste pyramid of Hindus. They are engaged in the not-so-pleasant business of ensuring that the corpses that are set on the pyre are burnt completely and in quick time.

There are elaborate scenes which lasts over a few minutes where the Undertakers are engaged in the task of breaking the skull of the dead to ensure that it disintegrates faster in the pyre.

There is a parallel story running that has a young Brahmin girl, a Computer teacher, who ventures out to find sex and solace in the arms of her boy-studens. The lovers' mating place is raided by the Police and while the boy commits suicide, the girl and her father end up getting monetarily exploited by the thugs-in-uniform.

If Massan had developed further the storyline of a bright boy from a Dom family who falls in love with a Bania girl and the oppressions that he faces therefore, the story would have become stronger. But the writer of Masaan chickens out. He bumps off the girl much too soon and the Engineer boy is left wailing for a while before he picks himself up and starts a job with the Railways in the nearby city of Allahabad.

The young teacher also wriggles out of the clutches of the Inspector-cum-blackmailer after sinking all her father's savings and her own first few salaries. The teacher and the Engineer meet at Sangam, in Allahabad, in the concluding scene of the movie.

Was this movie about the city of Benaras with a different perspective? I am afraid not. The boat-rides across the Ganges, the burial ghats and the narrow-mindedness of its citizens have been depicted many times by many film makers.
Was the movie about the struggles of a boy from the low caste who faces a hostile atmosphere in his journey as a student and as a lover? Not the least. The boy isn't shown facing any resistance or barbs or snide remarks either in his college or in his social circle.

May be Manish and his team want a Masaan-II where they will develop the real story where a Dom Engineer meets the Brahmin teacher and they both decide to marry.
Would Benaras and Prayag turn into battlefields then?

I have to ask that question to Manish.
But I must tell Manish that he has shown a great heart in making this movie.

Let has have more such attempts, may be with a bigger cast (not caste), with better director and with more melodious music.

The lyrics were great and the words, "Tu Kissi Rail si gujarti hai..." would cheer me up for some weeks to come


The writer Sudhir Bisht is a published author and a freelance columnist. Send feedback at sudhir_bisht@rediffmail.com

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