Decoding Masoom (1983)

Movie no 9/100

May 20, 2018

I remember reading a snippet that such was the modest budget on which Director, Shekhar Kapur, made his debut, that they could not afford Lata Mangeshkar for a second song in the film! Masoom, starring Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and an extremely cute child artist, Jugal Hansraj, is an emotional tale on mature issues of infidelity and parenthood. A screen adaptation of ‘Man, Woman and Child’ by Erich Segal, Masoom had dialogues, screenplay and lyrics – three of its biggest assets - written by Gulzar.

A successful architect, DK (played by Naseeruddin Shah) and his wife, Indu (played by Shabana Azmi) lead a happy life, with their two daughters, a 10-year old Pinky (played by Urmila Matondkar) and 5-year old Minni (played by Aradhana Shrivastav). Their idyllic life is shaken when DK receives a letter from his long-forgotten school teacher, asking him to collect his ‘son’. A brief affair during a reunion with his classmate from school, Bhavana (played by Supriya Pathak in a cameo), results in a son, Rahul (played by Jugal Hansraj), which DK has no idea about. With nowhere else to go, Rahul enters their family and pushes Indu and DK into a predicament of their own. While DK has the urge to accept Rahul as his son, he is wary of losing his wife. Indu is torn between anger for her husband’s child from an illegitimate relation and her compassion towards a young boy who lost his mother.

The movie has a good supporting cast, especially, Saeed Jaffrey and Tanuja. Like Rohini Hattangadi acts as a catalyst for the protagonist in Arth, Chandra (played by Tanuja), is a fearless, independent feminist who supports Indu during her testing times. Among the adorable kids, Jugal Hansraj is extremely endearing and his melancholic eyes make your hearts go out to him. He is shy, but has a demeanor that borders being fearful. His awkward scenes with Indu are heart wrenching, as the kid looks for motherly affection from her, but she refrains from showing any, as she is reminded of her husband’s unfaithfulness. Urmila Matondkar and Aradhana play the quarrelsome siblings that all of us have been, and provide some light-hearted movements in an otherwise serious movie. Naseeruddin Shah displays agony and guilt, as the faithful husband, whose lone mistake has pushed him away from his wife. He is not a villain, he genuinely wants to accept Rahul, but also tries not to let this break his home. But it is Shabana Azmi as Indu, who delivers a controlled performance for such a complex character. Your heart goes out to her, and even though you sympathize with a distraught Rahul, the lack of compassion from Indu seems real and justified. There is a scene in the climax where she rushes to Rahul’s room, covers him in his sheets and begins to caress him like her own. But, she breaks away and sobs tirelessly. This explains her agony and dilemma - only a seasoned actor like Shabana Azmi could deliver this without being overtly melodramatic.

As I mentioned earlier, the movie was made on a tight budget, yet, had some of the best works in terms of music, screenplay, cinematography, art direction, dialogues and direction. Gulzar is known for simple dialogues and lyrics, filled with heartaches. Masoom is no different. Teamed with the beautiful music by R.D Burman, Masoom gave us some of the finest songs which are popular even today. Since they could not afford to have Lata Mangeshkar sing another song, they brought a relatively new singer, Aarti Mukherji, for ‘Do Naina Aur Ek Kahaani’, which won her the Filmfare Award for Playback Singing. Shekhar Kapur does not seem like a novice. Much like Guru Dutt, to whom this movie is dedicated in its opening credits, Shekhar Kapur uses nuanced gestures which symbolize emotions. In the scene from climax that I mentioned above, Kapur uses a light switch – being turned on and off continuously by Indu – to depict the dilemma that she is going through. There are many such subtle signs with deeper meaning.

Shekhar Kapur went on to direct the Oscar-winning ‘Elizabeth’, apart from one of Indian cinemas all-time favorites  - Mr. India. But, Masoom will remain his most poignant and touching film.