Masaan

Some films have cities built into the story as a character. Masaan has Varanasi (Banaras) built into the story as an important character. It is a town where people come to die so that their souls are set free. Yet Banaras remains caught in a time warp between the traditions that survive and thrive in small cities. The boundaries of caste that everyone is aware of but does not dare cross. Masaan is a story about releasing the soul.There are two parallel stories that run through the film Masaan (the colloquial term for Shamshaan or a burning ghat). They are studies in contrast. The first protagonist Devi (played by Richa Chadha) is a girl who is seeking a release from the clutches of a greedy cop and from being judged because of a personal choice she made. The film passes no moral judgment about this small town girl who wants to explore her sexuality and is not apologetic about the consequences. Devi is a bold character crafted by director Neeraj Ghaywan and writer Varun Grover. But I felt that there was something missing in the character that would have allowed the viewer to explore her world more deeply.Shweta Tripathi creates a completely believable small town girl Shaalu, who is a hopeless romantic and lives in a world of Hindi-Urdu poetry. She has the innocence that comes to someone who has never been exposed to the seamier side of life.It is hard to show freshness in love stories. Bollywood tends to fall back on endless clichés that sway between the love story in rural India with its mandatory running through mustard fields. Or love stories of urban couples that include the dance numbers. Maybe it has something to do with the producers Vikramaditya Motwani and Anurag Kashyap the combo that gave us some inspirational lines in the film Udaan. <read those poems here>In Masaan, the poetry of Dushyant Kumar captures it in a haunting phrase:Tu kisi rail si guzarti hai, main kisi pul sa thartharata hoonWhen you pass by like a thundering train on a bridge,I am only aware of my trembling and shiveringhttps://youtu.be/zpf8hrbT2d0They say that you need to visit Sangam twice. The first time just by yourself and then again with someone. I would say the same for Masaan.Go watch it. Here’s a glimpsehttps://youtu.be/IVZzYa0MxM8-----------------Join me on twitter @AbhijitBhaduri