MASAAN
What do you say for a movie that is so complete and hits all
the right spots? By themselves Vikas
Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap are forces to reckon with, and
when they collaborate on a project, the result is sheer magic.
Masaan means the place you burn corpses – the crematorium.
And it is in this unlikely place that the protagonists are placed in. the movie
deals with tales of death and life thereafter. The deaths are sudden and jolting and the sequelae
of each death are not unpredictable, what matters though, is the treatment
effected by the first time director Neeraj Ghaywan. The direction is flawless and the
characterizations are superb. In fact the attention to detail is just superb. The
city of Varanasi wraps itself around you inexorably. I simply love it when the
city becomes a part of the story. You will learn the whys and wherefores of
cremation willy nilly.
The male protagonist Vicky Kaushal(Deepak) is talented
beyond belief. He essays the part of a
lower caste male living in a pious city with élan. His female counterpart is
played by Shweta Tripathi (Shaloo) and she is superb too. In fact the entire
clique of friends that these two have, are perfect. These two play out the tale
of a small town romance beautifully and it makes you realise that wooing can
occur outside of discos without hip gyrations and a horde of songs just with
simple poetry and bike rides. In fact can’t think of any movie where Hindi
poetry has been used so well, or at all.
The female protagonist is Richa Chadhha , and she certainly
is in need of no testimonial to her talent. She plays Devi- a girl with a spine
of steel and is willing to sample all that life offers, the consequences be
damned. Faced with total ruination of her life just makes her stronger and she doesn’t
crumble and fall apart, but looks for new beginnings. Her nemesis is a cop who
just can’t penetrate her defences. Richa Chadhha has shades of Smriti Mishra (wonder
where she vanished!) and is a lady who
portrays emotions simply with her body language and eyes. Case in point is a
scene in a restaurant, essayed in a style which made me long for Smita Patil. Her
father is played by Sanjay Mishra and essays his part convincingly. I loved the
child playing Jhonta who works for Sanjay.
The music is by Indian Ocean and fits in beautifully.
I loved the movie. Please go and watch.
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