Masaan Left me Speechless, Says Author Taslima Nasreen

Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who didn’t have ‘high hopes about Hindi movies’, was left ‘speechless’ after watching the internationally-acclaimed Indian film Masaan.

The film, which marks Neeraj Ghaywan’s debut as a director, revolves around four lives which intersect along the ghats of the Ganges in Varanasi – a low-caste boy falling hopelessly in love; a daughter ridden with the guilt of a sexual encounter ending in a tragedy, a hapless father with fading morality, and a spirited child yearning for a family, longing to escape the moral constructs of a small town.

“I didn’t have high hopes about Hindi movies as most of them were musical melodramas. But Masaan made me speechless. I salute Neeraj Ghaywan,” Ms Nasreen tweeted on Saturday.

The “overwhelmed” director replied saying, “Overwhelmed! Thank you so much!”

The film, which stars Richa Chadha, Sanjay Mishra, Shweta Tripathi and Vicky Kaushal, won two awards at the 68th Cannes International Film Festival. It bagged the Promising Future Prize and the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) Award at the prestigious fest.

Produced jointly by Drishyam Films, Phantom Films, Macassar Productions and Sikhya Entertainment, Masaan hit the Indian screens on July 24.