Hard to believe-the man who made Mr India and Bandit Queen churning out an exceptionally crisp emotional drama. No wonder then that he went on to be one of India’s best directors ever-Shekhar Kapoor; every film of Kapoor’s that I watch, I tend to draw parallels with this work of his; Masoom is one movie that has sensitized me to the child psyche.
It often is very difficult to perceive a child as an individual in his or her own right. More often than not, kids to most of us end up being extensions of their parents’ personalities or even worse, a mere statement of their financial muscle. The emotions and thought processes a child undergoes, the teething troubles he has when adjusting to strangers and strange situations-how often do we give these issues any consideration at all?
The issue of adultery in Indian cinema has not been a favorite of many filmmakers simply because what we are not comfortable with, we simply avoid. Good for Mr Kapoor then that the ’other’ woman dies conveniently for him in this movie. Inspired by the famous ’Man, Woman and Child’, this film is a commendable exploration into the pangs of helplessness, loneliness, lack of acceptance, the insecurities of being an orphan and the subsequent pain on losing his momentary feeling of belonging for the young boy; the intense bitterness, the utterly despairing feeling of being cheated and the loss of self-esteem for the housewife; and the emotional dilemma of the husband.
As the plot of the film developed, I could relate to the tiny joys of childhood laughter, the overwhelming anguish at being neglected..these are emotions all of us undergo; but to capture it on film, Mr Kapoor has done one hell of a job.
One scene from the film I can never forget:
When the child cuts his hand building the jewellery box for his father’s wife-at this point in the film, the wife knows the boy is her husband’s illegitimate son and the boy has no clue who his father is-and the utter disregard the wife shows-and then the pain she feels due to this (lack of ) action-my eyes are actually brimming with tears -if this scene doe not move you, probably you are dead inside.
All’s well that ends well-after a hell lot of emotional trauma, this movie ends on a positive note-one of acceptance, forgiveness and happiness.
And the little peals of childhood chime out loud and clear.Once more.