Masaan – ring of life & death

1. Masaan is a 2015 Hindi movie directed by Neeraj Ghaywan about caste and corruption in Indian society.
2. Piyush commits suicide after he is caught having sex with Devi (Richa Chadda) in a hotel by the cops. Inspector Mishra now blackmails Devi’s father Pathak (Sanjay Mishra) to pay 3 lakhs and settle the case. Pathak earns some money from his betting game where Jhonta, a small boy dips into the Ganga and collects coins along with other boys. Devi to save the family’s self-respect applies for a railway job and moves away from her father. In another part of Varanasi, Deepak (Vicky Kaushal), a cremation worker who is studying to be an engineer falls in love with a high-caste girl Shaalu (Shweta Tripathi). He reveals to her about him being a low-caste and his job but Shaalu accepts him, nevertheless. Meanwhile, Shaalu dies in a bus accident and Deepak finds out about this when he cremates her body. Deepak takes the ring from her body and in frustration throws it into the river. Jhonta finds the ring during his betting game and gives it to Pathak. Pathak sells the ring and clears his debt with Mishra. Deepak moves on and gets a job in the Railways. Devi goes to Piyush’s house and is met with anger and abuse. Post this, she is seen crying at the ghat where Deepak sees her and consoles her.
3. The movie is such a great piece of art where a simple yet impactful story has been presented so well by the director and the team that it needs to be called one of the best movies of the 21st century.
4. The music and the lyrics especially made such an impact and added so much colour and depth to the movie. Indian Ocean band deserves all the love for their contribution. Along with that, a big thank you to writer Varun Grover for giving such a great story.
5. The acting by the cast was just mind-blowing and the city of Varanasi was just the perfect one and no other place could have replaced that. Varanasi is one of the oldest civilizations on the planet and has a mix of everything.
6. The movie highlighted the caste system of India that the young generation is not at all interested in but the old generation is adamant to follow. The caste is just another reason for the politicians to move forward in their game while the country goes back again.
7. Corruption is in the blood of every government official, no matter what their position is. A minor group may be not influenced by this vice but the majority of them are and this is stopping our country from becoming a developed country.
8. The earth is a circle and thus we are intended to meet the person whom we are just intended to meet. Life works on the philosophy of fate and you should believe in it. Just go with the flow and what’s planned to happen will happen.
9. A critically acclaimed movie that was screened at major film festivals.
10. A many-time watch and I say it’s VERY GOOD.