Masaan

Masaan was felicitated at the Cannes Film Festival with standing ovation from the audiences. True to its hype, Masaan lives up to the reputation and gives you hard-hitting drama with realistic views on life.

Masaan, means "crematorium", tells two parallel story in the holy city of Varanasi.

From the writer Varun Grover( lyricist to some good films like Gangs Of Wasseypur, Ankhon Dekhi, Dumb Laga Ke Haisha) and direction by Neeraj Ghaywan ( 2nd Unit director to Gangs Of Wasseypur and Ugly), Masaan tells you the ugly side of life – The cremation scenes at the ghat of Ganges, the coin-collecting game and police extortion deep- dives into simple life and thinking of Varanasi people, caste system and police pressure. The hitting drama is hair-raising and it will be difficult to gulp down few scenes. Kudos to Neeraj Ghaywan for daring to be different. It takes nerve of steel to tell the not-so- happy ending stories. Art direction is brilliant. Cinematography is astounding with eye-catching scenes of beautiful banks of Varanasi. Dialogues are witty. Background score by Indian Ocean is tuneful. I was expecting the climax to be engaging but was slightly disappointed. Coming to the performances, Masaan has four protagonist and each of them gets into the character. Richa Chadha is brilliant and gives a staggering performance. She is undoubtedly gem of a actor playing various characters ( Nagma Khatoon in Gangs Of Wasseypur, Bholi Punjabin in Fukrey) with ease. Sanjay Mishra just gets better with each role. He is electrifying as usual. Newbie actors Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi shines and are promising.

Masaan is gritty and realistic cinema which should be lauded for its sheer effort. Excellent 4/5

I don't have to explain why you should watch this movie.

There are so many aspect of this movie which will touch you. Reality, true cinematography, story acting.

People from Banaras, Allahabad, UP will feel more touched due to so many reality scene shot on true spots.

For some people it may be a little sad and heart touching movie, but rest assure, it will leave a mark in your memories.

Perfect and right actors choose, like super Sanjay Mishra, Richa Chadda etc. To really enjoy this movie, watch it undisturbed, end to end, without chit chat, I am saying this because you need to connect to the move and very light emotional plots, which you will miss in small chit chat.

Gone are the days when people used to flock to cinemas on hearing about a "Salman Khan will remove his shirt" scene. Gone are the days where you have a 100 people pop out of nowhere and join the actors in an impromptu dance. Gone are the days when a shower of petals across the screen would imply that people are making out. Well, at least, they should be gone.

2015 is turning out to be a breathtaking year for Hindi Cinema. First we had "Margarita, with a Straw", which, simply put, broke all stereotypes. And now we have Masaan, which makes Margarita look small. We have had a few amazingly touching and intense films in regional Indian cinema, with the likes of Ray, Kasaravalli, et al, but this is a whole new territory in Hindi Cinema.

Masaan is devastatingly beautiful. Where do I even start? In the small North Indian town of Varanasi, the lives of a few ordinary people intertwine in two tales of love and loss. Right from the opening scene, we are thrown right into the tragic lives of these people, with an intensity hitherto unseen in Indian cinema, almost Scorsese like. It is so intense, that an air of discomfort fills the theater just 5 minutes from the opening. And that of unjust. Unjust, as we are forced to see the catastrophic consequences of corruption, greed, caste-ism, and people's attitudes towards sexuality. This is no pretty film. There are no scenes of comic relief. It gets into your head real quick, and you are all but mute spectators to their spiraling lives. You feel chained to your seats as you're unable to do anything for them. Now that's the power of good cinema.

The acting is almost perfect. Richa Chadda, as Devi, the bold woman caught up in sexual crime and corruption, is the star of the show. She pulls off the small town girl next door role with elegance and beauty, which only increases with her fearlessness as the film progresses. All the other actors, though not as good, are extremely believable in their respective casts. The direction is impeccable, with every small shot, be it romance or crime, captured with equal ferocity. But where the film truly stands out is in its cinematography. Avinash Arun Dhaware does in incredible job in capturing the holy city of Benaras in both its highs and lows. He sure is an expert in glorifying tragedy. The shots of the cremation at the ghats, the boat rides at night, and the train on the bridge are so hauntingly beautiful that they would remain etched on to my memory for quite some time.

Masaan is a film that exposes you to the kinds of lives people elsewhere live, and gives you an opportunity to evaluate yours. It makes you ponder over issues, though a tad exaggerated, that people in certain parts of our country surely still face. It might also teach you a thing or two on love, loss and moving on. Although I haven't seen a lot of Hindi cinema, this might just about be the best that I have.

Unfortunately, most people would still prefer a topless Salman Khan than a gem like this.

M A S A A N What a satisfyingly great piece of filmmaking.

Super amazing performances by Shweta Tripathi​, Sanjay Mishra, Richa Chadda​ and the newcomer Vicky Kaushal. Neeraj Ghaywan seems to be a very sorted-in-mind kind of a person to be able to make such a sublime film. The cinematography is spotlessly inspiring and to be put simply 'PERFECT'.

It is difficult to believe that we have such fimmakers making such films in India with such good performances by such good actors!

Shweta Tripathi​ is adorably cute and you just to keep looking at her. Vicky Kaushal has the 'boy-next-door' believability and he portrayed his character full of romance initially and angst later with such subtly and smoothness that from the first time you see him, you believe him. He needed some one like Shweta to complement his performance. Actually both of them have complimented each other so perfectly in the film that now I can't imagine any other actors doing their roles.

Richa Chadda plays 'Devi' and her character is so interesting to watch from the very first scene. Her's is a character which cannot be described easily. She lives in a small town, belonging to a rather seemingly conservative family where there is only her father played awesome-awesome-awesome Sanjay Mishra who is a priest-scholar. Devi is an educated young woman who is exploring her sexuality when she gets caught. Rest of the film is about the way she deals this matter with her father, everyone else and herself. Their is a guilt of sorts in her mind that she needs to deal with. She loves her father but their is something in their past that bothers her perhaps. Hers is a very pragmatic character who probably feels bogged down by the small town mentality and sensibilities of the small town that she lives in. Don't want to divulge much, you have to watch the film to try to understand her character.

Sanjay Mishra ji is simply put awesome. He 'acts' so effortlessly that I can't even call him an actor. Cos he just doesn't seem to be acting. He just becomes the character here. And he a delight to watch.

I need to congratulate the casting director of the film for a perfect magical cast. Even actors casted for Deepak's family are perfect and each actor was realistically believable.

Cinematography by Avinash Arun is just awesome. I loved the way he has lit the film. There is no extra, unnecessary lighting which gives the film a realistic look. I loved the shots which would be perhaps termed as under-lit in conventional mindsets. Cinematography was just what it was supposed to be. A great tool to visualize the director's thoughts and it did it wonderfully.

Editing by Nitin Baid was spot on. There is not a single moment in film where the film lags. Its cut crisply yet there is 'thairaav' where required.

Music was like cherries on the cake. Totally sweet! Totally delicious!

'Masaan' is a film that should, would inspire Indian filmmakers to do- away with all the extra glam-sham quotients of the typical Bollywood films. Films are all about story telling and this film does it perfectly. It is based in a very small town where there is nothing over-the-top in any manner. Real locations have been used and they look superb.

The film is full of metaphors and it makes you think. But maybe there isn't much to think, It can be a bit of an abstract film which also works if it doesn't bore you. This film doesn't bore you!

It really engages you!

Definitely worth a watch!

My rating: 8.5/10

‎Masaan‬ means a place, where dead bodies are cremated. If you can stand the sight of actual dead bodies being burnt, right after a cute scene of an excited 21 year old guy, whose Facebook friend request has been accepted by his crush; then yes, definitely watch this one.

Its a dark, complex, hard hitting movie, which is set across the enchanting Banaras and the majestic Ganges; revolving around the life of simple human beings.

'Man kastoori re' by Indian Ocean, can be the sole reason for a music lover to buy a movie ticket. At Cannes, this movie by debut director Neeraj Ghaywan won 2 awards; and it is said that very few Asian movies have received 5 minutes of standing ovation during its screening.

The movie has flaws (the absence of that scent of regional tone in the dialogues was the most disappointing part), but the mindblowing performance by Sanjay Mishra & the strong, heavyweight performance from Richa Chadda will make it up.

If you support such good cinema, and want more 'daring' film-makers, then don't miss it.