Director: Neeraj Ghaywan
Cast: Richa Chadda, Sanjay Mishra, Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi and Bhagwan Tiwari
In Hindu mythology, cremation holds a very important meaning. It’s not just about putting a dead body and soul to peace. It’s a process of renewal and catharsis. Fire, which is holy and divinely pure, cleanses a soul and prepares it for the life ahead. It’s a deeply romanticized thought on cause and effect. And it’s true depiction and pertinence to reality is what Masaan is all about. This is great writing. This is a great film. A layered and sublime tale about life, death and beyond. That after pain and suffering comes redemption.
The movie is set in Kashi. It’s the religious capital of India. That one city where you go to truly understand Hinduism and once you’ve done that all that’s left to do is to meet your maker. There’s a looming presence of inevitability in Varanasi, especially on the ghats (river banks) of Ganga, where masaans (cremation ground) exist. The places where people bring their dead for cremation. So this place itself is a prison for the people living there. A dungeon for their rotting aspirations and dreams. A fact, Masaan highlights with great effect. The story deals with two parallel stories one with Richa Chaddha and the other with Vicky Kaushal. Richa’s story starts off with erotica only to veer into a murderous tale of treachery and deceit. She plays a young girl caught in a sexual act and labeled a social outcast. How she and her father (played by the talented Sanjay Mishra) deal with the situation of corrupt cops and social stigma constitutes the soul of the film. The heart is all Vicky Kaushal’s surreal romance. It starts off like a typical small-town boy-meets-girl saga. There are shades of communal and societal tension. But then it takes an unexpected and blunt twist. Together these stories wrench out the emotions and pathos in the story. They draw you in. You feel the joy, sorrow and suffering of each character. The movie becomes an experience.
In effect, it all comes down to great writing. The team of Neeraj Ghaywan and Varun Grover do an exceptional job at creating situations that are perfectly nuanced with humour and drama. One moment you are reliving innocence and the very next you’re dreading the worst possible outcome. It’s a constant tussle between hope and fear. Just like life itself. Ghaywan makes his directorial debut as well, and he handles his subject and its presentation with great effect. There are two kissing scenes in the film. Both feature young couples engaging in the act of physical love possibly for the first time. And both scene depict that nervous passion of first love and/or attraction with great effect. Similarly, death is showcased with equal deftness. It’s veiled, out of the frame. Not thrust onto the viewer to make a jarring impact. And yet its arrival hits you. The direction in this movie is pure art.
What’s equally masterful is the cast. The casting director deserves a special mention here, for selecting perfect faces and actors for even the briefest roles. Every actor looks authentic in their character. And they certainly perform with A-grade authenticity. The charge is led by Richa Chadda, Vicky Kaushal and Sanjay Mishra. Richa’s character goes through myriad experiences. She feels passion, shock, fear, disbelief, resentment, humiliation, tension, desperation, doubt, resilience, courage, love and remorse. And with every new emotion, Richa seems to excel in her performance, convincing the viewer that there is no actor. Just one young girl, in a fight to survive and reclaim her life. Vicky’s character’s journey is as dramatic, but not as straightforward. He plays a young man who’s family vocation is to burn dead bodies on the pyre. Yet, his ambitions are to break free from that life, a thought reciprocated by his father too. But when he falls in love with an upper-caste girl from an affluent family, his life and his goals turn upside down. The young actor shows a great sense of resolve in his performance. Surprisingly, he excels in moments of heightened drama and emotional outbursts. Sanjay Mishra on the other hand is a master class in restrained brilliance. Forget acting, forget behaving, forget natural performances, he animates the character of an exploited individual and helpless father like no one can. Shweta Tripathi and Bhagwan Tiwari lend able support with their finely nuanced performances.
Even though the word ‘great’ is easily misused while chronicling a person or an achievement, it really can’t be employed enough to describe what Masaan feels like. You need to watch this film to realize there’s so much hidden meaning to scenes, situations and words. Yes there are no commercial movie gimmicks, no glamour to startle your senses. But there’s an abundance of artistic passion and emotion here to keep you thinking about life and death, long after the movie is over. It lingers around, like the memory of a lost loved one. That bittersweet combination of happiness and sadness. A perfect mirror to life.
Masaan
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