Masoom (1983)

मासूम

Masoom is a sweet, sad story about the repercussions of bad decisions made by basically good people. 

Indu (Shabana Azmi) and DK (Naseeruddin Shah) have a happy marriage.  They are partners and lovers, and their prosperous home is filled with the laughter of their two sunny, affectionate daughters.  One day, this joyful peace is shattered when DK receives word that he has a son - early in his marriage to Indu, he had a brief affair with another woman, who had his child and never told him.  Now the woman is dead, and the boy, Rahul (Jugal Hansraj), is in need of a father and a home.  Over the objections of Indu, who is heartbroken and devastated to learn of her husband's unfaithfulness, the boy comes to stay with them for a time.  Rahul bonds with Indu and DK's daughters - and with DK - but Indu can't bear to look at the boy, who is a physical, tangible reminder of DK's breach of her trust. 

The film's title, Masoom, means "innocent," and there are a number of innocent victims of DK's transgression, not least the boy Rahul himself, who only wants to be loved, to be part of the family, and to find his father.  In one particularly heartbreaking sequence, Rahul, puzzled by Indu's coldness to him, makes her a birthday gift;  she struggles palpably with tenderness toward him on the one hand, and horror and anger at what he represents on the other.  Indu herself is innocent as well, and the film puts her in a terrible position.  It is heartbreaking to watch her take out her pain and anger on the boy and grapple to come to terms with what she knows she has to do for him.

I've expressed this particular fan-girl gushiness before, but Masoom inspires it afresh:  one of the things I love best about Shabana Azmi is that she conveys so much in her silences.  She never needs a lot of dialogue to make plain the contents of her character's heart and mind. Her performance in Masoom is no exception; she makes Indu's struggle palpable, as she alternates between tenderness and coldness toward the boy, or toward her husband.  One of the most poignant such scenes occurs when DK and Rahul return from a few days away from the family.  Indu's daughters leap with excitement at their father's return, and for a moment Indu is joyful as well - a broad smile crosses Indu's face, and she rises and begins to fix her hair in the mirror.   Then she stops, suddenly, and her face changes, becoming cold and sad, her pain overtakes her momentary joy at DK's return.  The film is loaded with small, aching moments like this, and Shabana makes each one real and heartrending. 

Naseeruddin Shah, too, provides a nice, evocative performance as DK.  Naseer is always good at portraying deeply sad characters; here, he wears his pain in his droopy face and frail, weary body. 

I've been reminded by the comments below that I meant to remark on the outstanding work of the children in Masoom.  They were real as children; neither too angelic, nor simply miniature adults, and all three child actors performed well, especially young Jugal Hansraj as Rahul.  The elder daughter was played by Urmila Matondkar, who grew up to be an acclaimed actress as an adult.

Masoom also features a handful of pretty songs by R.D. Burman (including this lullaby picturized on Shabana); I understand that some of these are remembered as beloved evergreen hits, and while I admit that they did not make a strong impression on me on first viewing, they have grown on me in subsequent listenings.  All in all, a delicate, sensitive film, thoughtfully crafted and movingly executed.

Comments

[Kush Tandon]

Masoom is Shekhar Kapoor's one of the finest. The other being Elizabeth.

I think when he made Masoom, Ms. Azmi was his girlfriend.

Jugal Hansrarj becomes a household name (along with other ads).

The movie is inspired by Erich Segal's Man, Woman, and Child.

[carla]

Thanks for mentioning the child actor Jugal Hansraj. I am going to edit my review as I meant to to mention the children in it.

[माझी]

बहुत अच्छा रीव्यू लिखा है। वैसे, इस फ़िल्म में जो छोटी लड़की है, वो उर्मिला मातोंडकर है।

[माझी]

जब मैं छोटा था तो इस फ़िल्म का "लकड़े की काठी" गाना बहुत लोकप्रिय था, और हम बच्चे हमेशा इसको खेलते हुए गाते थे।

[carla]

शुक्रिया माझी, मुझे खुशी है कि रीव्यू अच्छा लगा |

Majhi's comment notes that one of the two daughters was played by a young Urmila Matondkar, and also that the song "Lakde ki kathi" from this film was very popular; when he was a child he used to sing it while playing.

[माझी]

Oops, sorry. No need to translate everything; I'll remember to write my comments in English.

[carla]

I enjoy the comments in Hindi, but someone once asked me what they said, so I added the translations.

[माझी]

अरे फिर हिन्दी में ही रहने दिजिये ना! जिनको समझना हो वो हिन्दी सीखें :-) क्या लिखा है ये जानने की उनकी उत्सुकता हिन्दी सीखने का उनका उत्साह बढ़ाएगी।

[माझी]

सॉरी, दीजिये (दिजिये नहीं)

[माझी]

हाँ, और एक रीव्यू हमें हिन्दी में बख़्श दीजिये :-) भले कितना ही छोटा क्यों न हो, फ़िल्मों के बारे में आपके दिलचस्प विचार हमें हिन्दी में पढ़ने की बड़ी इच्छा है। और आपको भी शायद ये लिखने में बड़ा मज़ा आए.. सिर्फ़ आपकी इच्छा हो तो।

[माझी]

वैसे मेरे ख़याल में शेखर कपूरजी की सबसे कामयाब और मेरी भी सबसे पसंदीदा फ़िल्म तो मिस्टर इण्‍डिया थी।

कार्लाजी आप के बाक़ी रीव्यूज़ पढ़कर आप की पसंद के मुताबिक़ ऐसा लगता है कि आपको ये फ़िल्में भी देखनी चाहिये - अर्थ, स्पर्श, अस्तित्व, अनाहत, चलती का नाम गाड़ी, सिलसिला, जाने भी दो यारो, बातों बातों में, गोलमाल (पुरानी वाली), ख़ूबसूरत, रंगबिरंगी। बस इतनी काफ़ी हैं अब के लिये.. अगर ये अच्छी लगी तो बताइयेगा तो आप को और फ़िल्में बताएँगे। बस आज का आख़री कॉमेण्ट। आप का ब्लॉग पढ़कर बड़ा मज़ा आ रहा है इस लिये इतने सारे कॉमेंट्स मार दिये एक ही दिन में, हेहे :-)

[carla]

Thank you for the recommendations, Majhi ji - of the films you suggest, Arth is already among my favorites (and reviewed here, of course); Sparsh, Silsila, and Jaane bhi do yaaro are in my collection waiting to be viewed; Chalti ka naam gaadi has been recommended to me strongly by my friend Sanni who sometimes posts comments here. The others I have not yet looked into so I will add them to the growing list of future investigations!

[माझी]

यूटूब पे मासूम पिक्चर का लकड़े की काठी नहीं मिला, लेकिन ये वाला मिल गया। ये भी काफ़ी सुप्रसिद्ध था, और आज भी कई लोगों की यादों से बँधा हुआ है .. 70s were really the golden-era of Hindi films! -

तुझ से नाराज़ नहीं http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijSxZ2W6ZQ

[माझी]

इस गाने के बोल बहुत ख़ूबसूरत हैं..

[hafeez]

Hello Salam for all
I search that song in net but cant find
Kale Labas Main Badan gorah lage yun iman se jesey hira nikal raha ho koyele ki kan se....

jan mainm jan si aa jaye yaar tu aa ja

that two songs

[bibi]

Hello :)
I`m searshing subs for this movie.Anyone can help me please? i take my e-mail : bibita@abv.bg

[Daddy's Girl]

Oh wow... I stumbled upon this DVD at the record store last night and spent an agonising 5 minutes trying to remember whether or not Filmi Geek had a positive review for 'Masoom' (such is the impact of your reviews, Carla - I should mention that I was shopping for a replacement for the 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' DVD I had (motivated by your review) picked up from the same store the day before but was forced to return due to its lack of English subtitles).

In the end I couldn't remember whether or not you were positive about 'Masoom' (I know, Shabana's presence should've tipped me off - but in my defence, I first read this review quite a while back), so I got 'Gadar' instead. Now I wish I had gotten 'Masoom'! Next time...

By the way, is there a Shabana film that you absolutely do not like (in spite of her performance in it)?

[Daddy's Girl]

Ok I went through your Shabana list myself and figured it out... you're not too fond of 'Avtaar'. Any others?

[carla]

Daddy's Girl, *Masoom* is a wonderful touching film, and as you can see by the volume of nostalgic comments on this post, very much beloved by many. But, wow! I am flattered, pleased, and a little bit scared that you put so much faith in my reviews!

There are films of Shabana's that I like less than others. At the moment I think *Avtaar* and *Morning Raga* hold the bottom spots, in both cases through no fault of milady's, of course. But I must necessarily be partial to films like *Masoom* that are emblematic of her career and that play to all of her strengths as an actor; they are the reason I love her, and she is the reason I love those films, and the direction of causation cannot really be determined.

Your question, though, is the final encouragement I need to post a summary list I compiled ranking all of Shabana's films that I have seen; Beth (http://bethlovesbollywood.blogspot.com/ ) has also encouraged me to post it, and so you may look for that in the near future.

[Gebruss]

I wonder whether Main Hoon Naa makes some sort of reference to this movie, having Nasredureen as the philandering father in both movies?

[Daddy's Girl]

That's a very interesting and perceptive observation, Gebruss... In view of the fact that Farah Khan made 'Main Hoon Naa' as a spoofy tribute to the Hindi films of her youth, I think you're on to something.

[carla]

I don't know, guys ... you might be right, but it seems unlikely to me that it's anything more than a coincidence. I just don't see anything that connects the two characters apart from both having philandered. How many roles has Naseeruddin sahib played in his career? I'd be surpsised if these are the only two philanderers in his resume. I don't think there's anything to it.

True Carla, but I was also thinking of the fact that in both films, there is a child born of adultery, and that child is not welcomed in his father's home. But you're right, it might just be a coincidence.

[carla]

Well, that's a fair point, I guess, I hadn't thought about it quite that way. It's not a very uncommon theme, though; isn't it a Ramayan or Mahabharata reference? I'm betraying my woeful ignorance of Hindu mythology here, but I thought that had something to do with why the characters in *Main hoon na* were named Ram and Laxman.

[Meera]

Hi Carla

You are very right in your observation about Masoom receiving the status of an evergreen hit film in India. As someone else has rightly observed it is the indian version of Eric Segal's - Man,Woman and Child.

Indeed the songs are still famous. My particular favourite is the one sung by Suresh Wadekar " Tujsey Naraaz Nahin Zindagi, Heraan Hoon Mein -2"

Naseeridun Shah also said in a recent interview that people still remember his performance in Masoom and commend him for that. He is one of the finest actors in India if you have seen his other good movies like Jaaney Bhi Do Yaaron, Akrosh, Ardh Satya, Sparsh and even a commercial movie like Sarfrosh with Aamir Khan.

Cheers

Meera