Masaan Movie Review

When you walk into a theatre to watch a Bollywood movie, you would have either watched the promos or loved the music. In other words, you have a relative idea as to what to expect out of a film. However, Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan is one film that most would be absolutely clueless about. But as the closing credits roll, it’s a film that will not just entertain you, but leave you awestruck.

Story: ’Masaan’ traces the story of two parallel people set in present day Benaras (Varanasi), Devi Pathak (Richa Chadha) and Deepak (Vicky Kaushal).

The film opens with a sexual encounter gone wrong between Devi (Richa Chadda) and her student, Piyush, in a dingy hotel room. Minutes later, the police barge in, and forcefully take her confession on tape. Piyush commits suicide out of fear and Devi and her father Vidyadhar Pathak (Sanjay Mishra) are subjected to bow down to the police, and cough up a heavy sum as settlement money.

The second story is about Vicky Kaushal as Deepak Choudhary, who belongs to the Dom community which cremates the dead. ‘Masaan’ the film derives its title from here as ‘Masaan’ means Crematorium. In a random encounter, he meets an upper-cast-girl Shaalu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi), and dreams of the day when he can have his lived-happily-ever-after story. Their romance is cute, filmy and heroic. Their difference in castes bothers them, but they vow to fight it as soon as Vicky will bag an engineering job.

Review: The love story between Vicky and Shaalu is filled with shades of Facebook romance, ghazals, shayaris and bike rides. Here balloons are used to depict love and acceptance. The scene where the young boy (Jhonta) dives into the river to search for coins is one of the best scenes of the film. The climax is unpredictable, it makes you leave the theatre with a smile on face and a ray of hope. Masaan is a film that has captured the beauty of Benaras. Credit to the director of photography Avinash Arun, as his  cinematography adds life into the film and the much-needed soul into the storytelling.

The music by Indian Ocean is apt and all the songs go well with the narrative. The best song of the lot is ‘Mann Kasturi’. Special mention to Varun Grower for his dialogues.

Acting: On debut, Vicky Kaushal delivers a performance that will live-on even after the film is over. He stays true to the character of Deepak Choudhary and it becomes almost impossible to imagine that he is actually a Mumbaiite. Watch him in the scene when he breaks down after losing what he loved the most. He is definitely a talent to watch out for in the future.

Shweta Tripathy is loveable and adds the required quirk and freshness to her character. She and Vicky make a great pair and share excellent on-screen chemistry.

Sanjay Mishra impresses and proves yet again that he is one of the finest actors in the industry today. His scenes with the young boy (Jhonta) is truly enjoyable. Richa Chadda is the most recognisable face in the film, but when it comes to performance she is side-lined by the newer actors.

Overall, there are some films that stay with you long after you leave the cinema hall and ‘Masaan’ is one such film. One of India’s greatest directors, Rajkumar Hirani, said “There are films that do well at the box office, but are forgotten the next day. But this film (Masaan) will stay inside us for many years as a good film”

If it’s playing at a theatre nearby, ‘Masaan’ is a film that shouldn’t be missed.

Rating: ★★★★½

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14 Comments

  • Indicine : 4.5 stars ???? Really ?? I hope it recovers its cost (due to BB Strom) if movie is such good !!!!!!

  • Srry no show available for masaan its bajrangi bhaijaan and bahubali running all over , but i will watch it for sure by downloading.

  • First time I heard Masaan name was two weeks ago when my dear Friend @Nipun tweeted that a new Lootera is coming soon. ??.

    btw, jokes apart, this movies seems like a content rich film. All the best

  • Unfortunately not showing in my city,i think it’s a good move by indicine..You should review such small films that receive rave reviews all over..

  • Yar kya baat kartay ho…BB strom everywhere…even the biggest haters of Sallu hav watched BB either… or will watch it very very soon…BB defines our Bollywood…
    #BB300cr

  • @Indicine.com I request to you that you give review of at least one movie every week and post articles like the imdb one you were posting more often. BTW, where is the article about top heroine?

  • These paid critics like Taran Adarsh and Komal Nahta didn’t even mention Masaan in one of their tweets, leave alone reviewing it.
    All they did the whole week was BB collected this much in India, this much in Aus, this much in Pak, this much in US, Baahubali did this, did that blah blah blah….
    It is no doubt that both of these good-for nothing critics earn huge through films like BB and Baahubali.
    They are a kalank on the business of Critics.
    Some wannabe intellectual critics who I hate like Raja Sen and Majeev Rasand also reviewed Masaan. I appreciate it.
    I also appreciate Indicine who bothered themselves to watch this cult movie and tell us about it.
    Thank You.

  • Bajrangi bhaijaan deserves 4.5 stars

    masaan is given 4.5 stars to promote it
    a movie like masaan deserves only a laptop watch
    bad release date for masaan they shud have it on aug 14

  • So sad…indicine give review on masaan on sunday night…its high critically claim ..the review should be given on friday but indicine not given a review due to bajrangi bhaijan

  • 4.5 oooh. Seems a great film. But I dont trust your reviews.
    You gave 4 stars to the boring and extremely poorly scripted HNY.
    And 3.5 stars to the incredibly well scripted and entertaining Bajrangi Bhaijaan and PK.
    I know its your opinion, but your opinion is exactly what I dont trust. You are biased when it comes to ratings.

  • This movie displays two different type of story where one girls thinks of suicide thinking that her parents will not allow to marry a lower cast boy.
    and the second girl knowing that she has not done any wrong thing only due to fear of “what will people say to her father” she is ready to give money to corrupt police officer.

    masaan has done good job in showing that “what have to change in India especially in villages”

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