Masaan: Notes on Grief, Caste and Hope

 Neeraj Ghaywan's impressive directorial debut Masaan is set in the city of Varanasi. The title of the film is a Hindi word for burning ground or crematorium. According to Hindu belief,  the departed soul achieves salvation,  if the funeral rites are performed beside the Ganges. 

The film follows the contrasting lives of Devi and Deepak who are connected with Life & Death. Neeraj Ghaywan weaves together caste, gender and changing times in the narrative which unfolds with time. each narrative laced with pain and grief takes the audience through the labyrinth of human emotions.

Gender and Caste in Masaan

The film begins with the story of Devi Pathak, an upper-caste Brahmin girl when she gets caught with a boyfriend in a hotel by a corrupt police officer her life turns upside down. The cop takes advantage of the situation and threatens to publicly defame her for a bribe. Devi's boyfriend out of humiliation attempts suicide leaving Devi in guilt and grief.  

Deepak on the other hand belongs to the Dalit (low caste or untouchable community in India) family of Dom ( corpse burner). Deepak is ambitious and aspires to become an engineer and set out in the world for the life that awaits him. Deepak falls in love with Brahmin Shalu despite the caste differences but the brief joy wains off when Shalu dies in a tragic train accident. 

Masaan is a subtle commentary on caste and gender. Deepak's grief intensifies when burnt his lover's dead body in the ghat against his wish he could not divorce himself from his reality. This is the gravity of the caste system in India.

Grief, loss and guilt

The film is set during a period of transition. When old beliefs and customs were shifting a new generation was taking control. Both Devi and Deepak desire to escape their unwanted lives. Devi who lives with guilt and burden of Piyush and blames he father for her mother's death and Deepak who cannot escape his Dalit fate and burns dead bodies in the ghats every day, both desire to escape their small town. 

Deepak and Devi are opposite, Devi does not express emotions after her boyfriend's death Deepak on the other hand cries his heart out when Shalu dies in a train accident. 

Closure in Masaan

With impending grief comes closure sometimes it takes months, sometimes years or never happens in one's lifetime. Grief is reflected throughout the film however Masaan's at its core is a meditation on closure. 

Deepak holds on to the ring he had bought for Shalu until he loses it in the river. He jumps into the river and returns defeated that's when the burden lifts off his shoulders.

Devi who already held her father responsible for her mother's death further grows apart from him when the incident happens. The troubled relationship of father and daughter and emotional distance is yet another form of grief explored in the film.

Sadhya Devi's colleague at the new workplace offers her kheer that his father made for him. when Devi asks about where his father lives Sadhya ji humorsly responds I live with my father. My father lives alone and then proceeds to explain what he means — He lives alone during the day when I go to work

This conversation changes her perception and relationship father Devi realizes that her father sacrificed all his life for her and loves her deeply. No amount of blaming and resenting her father would heal the absence of her mother.

When Devi Leaves for Allahabad for a job position. She stops by the ghat in the city and finally finds closure as she floats the gift box that Piyush gave her. She for the first time cries open-heartedly, while Deepak who was present coincidentally watches her.  

 The film ends on a beautiful note as the two narratives finally assemble on this ghat of another city. The boatman offers them a ride. Both climb onto the boat, and the boat metaphorically moves on as they did with grief. 

The sun hangs low in the sky, warm golden pink light glides on the water surface as Man kasturi rey continues in the background,