Masoom

I wanted to acquaint a young niece with the song Lakdi Ki Kaathi - so we ended up watching Masoom. Here Naseer and Shabana vied for equal honors - he as the "weak philandering and then unable to stand up for what is right" man, she as the hurt and retaliating spouse. Caught in the mix were three children. This was probably the first realistic portrayal of children in Hindi cinema. Urmila Matondkar as the older sister, I forget the name of younger and cute as a button sister, but of course the unforgettable kid was Jugal Hansraj - oh that Masoomiyat was to die for. As the wife was building wall upon wall between herself and the husband, the kids were breaking barriers and bonding as only children can. Shabana - she was a goddess fighting for the rights of her family with not one false note in the entire film. Naseer had just the right amount of weakness and regret to tell you that he was a man with clay feet. Sayeed Jaffrey was a tiny bit loud but then he was supposed to be a loud Punjabi type. These people lived in real houses in a real city and went to work and shopped and played just like us. Masoom had excellent music too - Huzoor is Kadar, Lakdi Ki Kaathi, Tujhse Naaraz Nahin. A perfect 10 from me for this perfect film.

Probably one of the most sensitive films ever made in India. Its sensibility is very contemporary and unaffected by "Bollywood". The performances are surprisingly real and one can easily relate to them. Naseer plays the role of DK beautifully, I feel its his most sensitive performance till date. DK is a very real character, he is a man who is not ashamed to cry. Its very apparent he loves his wife a lot, but the emotion he shows for Supriya Pathak, (the woman he met during the school reunion, from whom he has a son but did not know till now)is also very real, very real and honest. Even though it has the feel of a one night stand, and even DK himself would rather believe and tell his wife that, but its pretty clear he liked her when he met her and felt genuine emotion for the girl. Bhavna (Supriya Pathak) decides to bring up the child alone and not tell DK about it because she knows that he has a family of his own.

DK is a very rare character in an Indian film, men in Indian films are not sensitive like him, they don't break down while talking to their wives, they don't show helplessness. DK is so humane that its difficult for him to not touch and affect you in some way. Personally, the character that Shabana Azmi, Indu – DK's wife, does not move me too much. Its probably true that her character gets to grow only towards the end when her love for Bhavna's boy(Rahul) begins to overpower her hatred for the act that her husband had committed years ago. Her hurt also comes from the fact that when DK had this affair with Bhavna she was expecting their first child.

Indu is not shown to have any extraordinary characteristics in the beginning. She is just jealous of Rahul's mother and feels disgust for the deeds of her husband. Any one would feel like that. Her character gets some respite when she begins to see the boy Rahul for what he truly is – his mother is dead and he does not know who his father is – he is truly alone and orphaned. Its love and sympathy for him that raises Indu above the normal jealous, hurt wife. She is a mother of two girls herself, she cannot help but feel motherly love for this boy who is sweet, nice natured and so lonely.

The kids also act very well, Jugal Hansraj is wonderful as Rahul. The film wins in the end it seems because of him… you feel so much for this boy. It wins also because of DK (Naseer) and his surprisingly natural love for his lost, so far unknown son. He feels pride when Rahul plays a good ball of cricket… and it surprises him. Just goes to show that feelings of love are not conditioned, developed, they just "are". Indu's feelings for the boy can be seen almost visually growing… and that is a beautiful thing. She is the one who gets him back home in the end.

A must watch for anyone who loves Naseer and Gulzar. It's a film that doesn't disappoint. I have it on DVD and watch it again and again and again!!

Over the last few years 'Bollywood' films have been given the coverage and exposure they deserve over here in the UK. Their rising popularity means that people who wouldnt have access to watching a bollyowood film, or would simply dismiss it as a foreign language film, therefore unwatchable, are now enjoying the magic and power of bollywood. Recently Channel 4 here in the UK have began to show bollywood films every few nights, and sometimes in the day. I have watched many of them, but Masoom is by far my favourite. On paper the storyline doesnt sound incredibly exciting or original, but what is on screen is purely amazing. The actors portray their characters with such knowledge and ability that you feel you are watching the family's home movie. The basic theme of this film to me seems to be the power of love. GK's love for Rahul battles against his love for the rest of his family. And it is Indu's love for GK, and her eventual love and respect for Rahul, that keeps the family from being torn apart. It is a film about strength, about having the strength to love someone no matter what they have done, Shabana Azmi's Indu is both fragile but incredibly strong and dignified. Naseerudin Shah plays GK with such courage, but also shows his weak side. This is a film that deeply effected me. The power of its central themes are amazing, and shows a side of Bollywood that is largely unheard of.

I have watched this movie 3 or 4 times, and I am impressed with the subject matter and the way with which Gulzar has written it and Shekhar Kapur has directed it. Usually I find that most Indian movies have plots that have such one dimensional characters, but in this movie you see the evolution of the characters. For those who watch Indian movies for the lyrics as well and you haven't seen or heard the songs of Masoom, then you are truly missing something. You can't expect anything less than the best (in terms of the lyrics) from Gulzar. The music by R.D.Burman is also very touching, and appropriate for the scenes. Kudos to Naseruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi for portraying their characters with such passion. After watching this movie I felt that it is human to make mistakes, and you don't find many movies providing such moral lessons. Highly recommended to lovers of cinema.

A very sensitive movie very well done by Shekar. Needless to say Naseerudhin and Shabana come out with their best performance. The surprise is the kid jugal. His performance moves you to tears..he brings out the feelings of a lost,orphaned innocent kid beautifully. RDB music was apt and Gulzhars lyrics were exceptional. But i felt that Supriya pathaks character was not projected well. The relationship between Naseer and Supriya lacks depth. Climax scene could have been handled differently