From Varanasi to Cannes

Neeraj Ghaywan's debut feature Masaan has picked up two big wins at the Cannes film festival last week. The author talks to the makers about the film's journey

While the entire country was swooning over Sonam Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai sashaying down the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival last fortnight, other developments were keeping indie film circles abuzz. Two Indian films, Masaan and Gurvinder Singh's Chauthi Koot, competed in the Un Certain Regard category, which runs parallel to the main competition.

Masaan, starring powerhouse performers Richa Chadda and Sanjay Mishra, and directed by debutant director Neeraj Ghaywan, got a five-minute-long standing ovation during its premiere. On the penultimate day it won the coveted FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) award, as well as the Prix de l'Avenir (a special jury prize for promising new films). This is India's best showing at Cannes since 1988, when Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! won the Camera d'Or as well as the Audience Award.

Announcing the awards, jury president and actor Isabella Rossellini said that watching 19 films from 21 countries "was like taking a flight over our planet and its inhabitants… Any anthropologist would be envious of us." That certainly sounds like a fitting description of Masaan. The film is a meta-narrative set in Varanasi, following a set of characters across parallel stories till eventually their paths cross. It is an impressive achievement for Ghaywan, who previously assisted Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and Ugly (2014).

The holy city on the banks of the Ganga reserves a cruel punishment for those who play with its moral traditions. As Chadda can be seen fuming in the intriguing trailer, "jitni chhoti jagah, utni chhoti soch (the smaller the place, the smaller-minded its thinking)." Masaan, say the producers, attempts to explore themes related to the existential crises that ordinary people are confronted with as they adjust to ever-changing norms in a society built upon centuries of customs. The first story revolves around a boy from the Dom community, 'outcastes' traditionally considered the caretakers of the city's revered cremation grounds. The second story focuses on a young girl who is shamed for a sexual escapade, while the third is about her father and how he deals with the situation.

The genesis of Masaan's central theme goes back to Ghaywan's life before films. In 2010, Ghaywan, an engineer-MBA, quit a cushy corporate job to assist on a film shoot in Bihar. An avid cinephile, Ghaywan then met Kashyap through www.PassionFor Cinema.com (a now-defunct film website), to which they would both contribute regularly. In an ironic twist of fate, Kashyap asked him if he'd be interested in assisting him on his magnum opus, Gangs of Wasseypur. Later, he decided to get started on his own venture, as he felt that "while assisting others you tend to lose out on your own individual voice."

Masaan team at Cannes after the film’s international premiere

"Gangs of Wasseypur was my film school," says Ghaywan, in a phone conversation from France. "Kashyap was my mentor, I learnt everything from research to filmmaking to post-production over those two-and-a-half years." Ghaywan was taken by the idea of making a film set in Varanasi, where he had spent some time during Wasseypur's shoot. "But I wanted to stay away from all the cliches people automatically associate with Varanasi - mandirs, sadhus, ganja, et cetera," he says.

He wrote a draft based on an idea he had back in his corporate days, but thought it was really bad. Ghaywan then turned to buddy Varun Grover, a lyricist and stand-up comedian who had studied at Banares Hindu University in the late '90s. "We didn't want it to be an exoticised film, we wanted the experiences to be honest and lived," says Ghaywan. "It's a story about people, about relationships, Varanasi is just the backdrop. The emphasis has been to corroborate fiction with reality," he adds.

Ghaywan and Grover travelled to Varanasi, stayed at college hostels. interviewed people extensively and came back with several fresh insights. For instance, a conversation with college girls about dating and sexuality was quite useful in preparing Chadda's character.

"I have a penchant for the documentary-style of filmmaking," says Ghaywan. A fan of world cinema, Ghaywan counts iconic directors such as Walter Salles and the Dardenne brothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc) among his inspirations.

Masaan is an international co-production by Manish Mundra, Macassar Productions, Phantom Films, Sikhya Entertainment and French production company Pathe International. Mundra, on his part, remains grounded yet excited about his hat-trick of wins this year: first for Umrika at Sundance, then for Dhanak at Berlinale, and now for Masaan. "This has given us a sense of confidence, to continue to back newcomers who want to make content-driven cinema."

Hopefuls who haunt the alleys of Andheri West in Mumbai trying to peddle their film scripts to Mundra know by now that he follows his gut. "What enticed me about Masaan was the way it has portrayed the impact that society has in defining our relationships, and that is what stays with you," says Mundra.

The film is releasing in France on June 24. Mundra in an earlier interview to Business Standard had mentioned how he has learnt the value of international co-production, after Ankhon Dekhi's commercial failure. Masaan's box office fate will be decided on July 24, when it releases across theatres in India.