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Friday, 10th July 01:50 PM IST
MASAAN Presents Real Struggle Of Today's Small Town
Pluses: extraordinary performances by Richa Chaddha, Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi, realistic writing, very well shot Minuses:
below par editing, pretentious at times
Critic Rating: 4/5
Business Rating: 1/5
Verdict:
Watch it for real poignant moments
Detailed Analysis: 'Masaan' has made waves in festive circuit and now it is releasing in India. It has Phantom and French Cannes team backing it and relatively new cast and crew.
The film is set in Varanasi which is now almost new destination for Bollywood. There are couple of stories to start with. Motherless Devi Pathak (RichaChadha) is poised in flight mode, whether through a liaison with a boy she’sattracted to, or via a temporary stop-over at a ‘railways ki naukri’. Herfather (Sanjay Mishra) who operates a little kiosk at the ‘ghats’, is a Sanskrit‘vidwaan’ and wise to the ways of his ‘sangi-saathis’, but is clueless how toact when Devi is ensnared in a scandal, and threatened by a greedy cop(Tiwari). Engineering student Deepak (VickyKaushal) is also searching for a way out of his Dom lineage, and is also in thethroes of first love. Pretty-perky Shaalu (Tripathi) loves Hindi-Urdu poetry,and recites lines which speak to him even if he is unaware of their history.You fear that the discrepancy in their station could act as a deal-breaker totheir winsome romance. ‘Ladki upper caste hai dost, jyaada sentiyaayie mat':this line, delivered in perfect Banarasi ‘leheja’ by Deepak’s friend, says itall.How these two stories take their own course form the climax.
Performance wise Richa Chaddha is outstanding and delivers a winning act. Though her character lacks variation but as an actress she excels. Debutant Vicky Kaushal is impressive and Shweta Tripathi is perfect. Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi are good too. Film has interesting plot and intriguing screenplay by Varun Grover and director Neeraj though few cliches do show pretentious approach of team. Dialogues are good but could had been better. Film has below par editing. Music is average. Cinematography is excellent and production design is apt.
Director Neeraj Ghaywan makes a confident debut and one can see his approach quite affected by his mentor Anurag Kashyap whom he assisted in 'Gangs Of Wasseypur'. With little bit more honesty he could had made an excellent even better film! Film released today and it is struggling due to unexciting promos and dry content. There is hardly any chance for film to survive at box office outside metros as reviews might bring audience in high end plexes.
Go for this one, a small film with big heart! | |||