'Masaan' leaves Taslima Nasreen 'speechless'

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

The story of debut directorial of Neeraj Ghaywan revolves around four lives which intersect along the Ganga ghats in Varanasi: a low-caste boy falling hopelessly in love, a daughter ridden with guilt of a sexual encounter ending in a tragedy, a hapless father with fading morality, and a spirited child yearning for a family, long to escape the moral constructs of a small town.

"I didn't have high hopes about Hindi movies as most of them were musical melodrama. But 'Masaan' made me speechless. I salute Neeraj Ghaywan," 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.