MasaanMovies like Masaan
- Key Features:
- Social commentary, Caste system, Forbidden love, Guilt, Tragedy, Redemption, Loss, Grief, Small-town life, Intergenerational trauma, Coming-of-age, Family drama, Cultural conflict
- Tone:
- serious, poetic, restrained
- Target Audience:
- Art house cinema enthusiasts, Viewers interested in social issues, Fans of international films, Those who appreciate character-driven stories
- Emotional Arc:
- Despair → Hope
Masaan

Four lives intersect along the Ganges: a low caste boy in hopeless 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.
Masaan
An anthology of four stories that sheds light on modern relationships from the viewpoint of the Indian woman.

A petty thief is put on trial for the attempted murder of a lawyer. Through a series of flashbacks, the intertwining lives of the thief, the lawyer, and the thief's defense lawyer are illustrated.

A small-town boy needs to break through the class divide to gain acceptance from his childhood sweetheart who is in love with big city ideals.

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda, twentysomething Mina finds herself helping to run a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. It's there that a passionate romance with the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African American communities.

Duped and sold to a brothel, a young woman fearlessly reclaims her power, using underworld connections to preside over the world she was once a pawn in.

A spirited girl finds herself caught in a complicated love triangle while burdened with societal and familial pressures.

When her father is killed in a road accident, Trishna's family expect her to provide for them. The rich son of an entrepreneur starts to restlessly pursue her affections, but are his intentions as pure as they seem?

Avinash, a dejected soul stuck in a dead-end job shares a strange relationship with his father. He holds him responsible for crushing his dreams. However, he is left pondering upon this longstanding hatred when he hears of his father’s untimely demise.

Madhukar and Parthavi fall head over heels in love with each other, but the fact that they belong to different castes of society, becomes an obstacle in their romance. The lovers dare to go against societal norms and battle all odds for the sake of love.

After destroying his older brother's motorbike in retaliation for his constant bullying, 11-year-old Krishna is sent to a traveling circus to earn money to pay for the bike's repairs, but soon winds up in the streets of Bombay's poorest slums. There, he befriends the drug dealer Chillum and young prostitute Sola Saal, while trying to make enough money at a neighborhood tea stall to repay his debt to his family.

In the arid landscape of Rajasthan, four women navigate their way through personal and cultural difficulties.

Two souls arrive in a small town, one on vacation, the other to meet a lover. They spend the most magical dream-like days of their lives in that town... with each other.

Meeting while on vacation, Ved and Tara sense a connection but vow to keep their real identities a secret. Years later, their paths cross again.

The year is 1938, and Mahatma Gandhi's groundbreaking philosophies are sweeping across India, but 8-year-old Chuyia, newly widowed, must go to live with other outcast widows on an ashram. Her presence transforms the ashram as she befriends two of her compatriots.

Kishorilal wants an Indian bride for his westernised son. He gets him engaged to Ganga, his friend's daughter, and brings her to USA. But she shares a deeper bond with Arjun, Kishorilal's foster son.

A young IPS officer’s new posting in rural India has him confronting caste disparities and uncomfortable truths in the face of a gruesome crime. When three girls go missing in the fictional village of Lalgaon, two of them are found dead and there is no trace of the third one. Where is she and who is responsible for this heinous act?

A Hindu man and a Muslim woman fall in love in a small village and move to Mumbai, where they have two children. However, growing religious tensions and erupting riots threaten to tear the family apart.

As the romantic monsoon rains loom, the extended Verma family reunites from around the globe for a last-minute arranged marriage in New Delhi. This film traces five intersecting stories, each navigating different aspects of love as they cross boundaries of class, continent and morality.

Three best friends juggle life as 20-somethings in Mumbai, where romance, ambition and heartbreak collide with the addictive draw of social media.

Bitti Mishra is a bohemian Bareilly girl who falls deeply in love with Pritam Vidrohi, an author because she admires his progressive way of thinking. Finding him though proves to be as hard as looking for a needle in the haystack. So Bitti seeks the help of the local printing press-owner, Chirag Dubey on her journey of love.

Mauji stays in a village near Delhi with his wife Mamta, father and mother. Varun works at a shop that sells sewing machines, owned by Bansal and his son Prashant. Both have a habit of ill-treating Mauji and make him do fun antics. When Prashant gets married, Bansal invites Mauji and his entire family. Mamta feels humiliated when she sees Mauji being asked to imitate a dog by the Bansals.

While fighting for the political supremacy of their respective families, a Hindu man and a Muslim woman share a forbidden romance.

In 1900s India, Calcuttan zamindar Devdas Mukherjee — unable to marry his lover — takes up alcohol and the company of a courtesan to alleviate the pain.

Raghu, a simpleton, and his best friend decide to run a food stall to get rid of their unemployment. However, Raghu's life takes a drastic turn after he accidentally kills one of their customers and he is pushed into a life of crime.

A corrupt cop and a serial killer obsessed with a psychopath from the '60s get caught up in a ruthless cat-and-mouse game.

An honest Superintendent of Police, IPS Amit Kumar, is assigned to a crime infested town to reduce its crime rates. There, he soon learns that cleaning up the town also means confronting the corruption among police and politicians.

Poonam, a traditionally brought-up young woman, is to marry Prem, a groom chosen by her uncle. Poonam and Prem's faith and love are to be tested however, when an accident occurs and Poonam might be scarred for life.

A small-town girl finally realizes her dream of becoming a famous supermodel but soon finds out that there's a price for her glamorous new life.

Upon returning to his industrial hometown, a young man must decide whether to follow his own dreams or acquiesce to his father's plans for his future.

Mita and Raj Batra, an affluent couple from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, are grappling with getting their daughter admission into an English medium school. But there is one big problem. Their zubaan is Hindi, and the elitist snobs won’t let the Hindi speaking hoi-polloi fit in.

A cop, investigating the mysterious death of a filmstar, meets a sex-worker, while he faces some personal problems psychologically. The mystery connects these people in a way, that ultimately changes their lives.

Six couples who do not know each other are brought together by destiny, fate and love

Ran and Leela are passionately in love with each other. The only problem is that their respective clans have been enemies for 500 years.

A Mumbai police officer's search for a missing teenage girl leads her to the depraved world of child trafficking. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game between the officer and a ruthless mafia kingpin.

After his wife and son are killed, a young man finds out the man behind the murder and fights against him, along committing some big mistakes.

Yogi and Jaya, who have polar opposite personalities and sensibilities, meet via an online dating app. This encounter turns into so much more when the two travel to Rishikesh.

Kabir, a genius yet hostile medical student, falls in love with Preeti from his college. When Preeti's father spots the couple kissing, he opposes their relationship and decides to marry her off.

Vijay, a destitute poet, searches for true love while attempting to get his work published. With the assistance of two women in his life, his dream comes true - but at a cost that causes Vijay to rethink his worldview.

Raja, a taxi driver, falls in love with Aarti, a rich girl, and marries her against her parents' wishes. Later, her stepmother tries to create a rift betweenthe couple.

A young man returns to Kashmir after his father's disappearance to confront his uncle - the man he suspects to have a role in his father's fate.

An accident on a bridge ties together three young men from different social classes, sparking a course of events that will forever alter their lives.

A couple elopes to get married and set up home hoping that just love will do the trick - but that's just the beginning of their story.

Archi, a local politician’s daughter, and Parshya, a fisherman’s son, fall in love resulting in violence between the families due to the stringent casteism in the village.

A sewerage worker's dead body is found inside a manhole in Mumbai. An ageing folk singer is tried in court on charges of abetment of suicide. He is accused of performing an inflammatory song which might have incited the worker to commit the act. As the trial unfolds, the personal lives of the lawyers and the judge involved in the case are observed outside the court.

A group of Mumbai up-and-comers search for love and struggle for success in this ensemble drama that centers on an eager young call centre executive.

After moving from Calcutta to New York, members of the Ganguli family maintain a delicate balancing act between honoring the traditions of their native India and blending into American culture. Although parents Ashoke and Ashima are proud of the sacrifices they make to give their children opportunities, their son Gogol strives to forge his own identity without forgetting his heritage.

A man and a woman come from two very different cultural backgrounds, and decide that they won't get married until they convince their parents. As feared, differences between the families pose a hurdle.

A privileged Delhi socialite hires a middle-class student to pose as her boyfriend to maintain her social status. Their pretense becomes complicated when genuine feelings develop between them.

A 25-year-old man tries to suppress his embarrassment when his mother announces that she is pregnant.

Three stories about persons forced to think about the ethics and moral issues raised by medical advances.

A shy simple traditional girl leaves her family in India for her new husband in London, where she meets a shameless flirt and a complicated party girl.

A gay cop and a lesbian teacher enter a sham marriage to pacify their families but find that relationships — both real and fake — aren't all that easy.

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

A man pursues a woman who is already engaged and eventually gets married to her. Differences between the two lead to a bitter separation that threatens to destroy their relationship forever.

An unconventional thinker helps a budding cinematographer gain a new perspective on life.

Badrinath is looking for a typical bride; Vaidehi is looking for an independent life. Together they must break with tradition and redefine their role

A journey of three restless young people who junk the society's syllabus for finding love and decide to follow their heart.

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate. Colours, fish, dogs, and kites don't seem important to the adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks, and neatness. Ishaan cannot seem to get anything right in class; he is then sent to boarding school, where his life changes forever.

Arun is a reclusive and lonely modern art painter. Shai is an American banker who is on a visit to Mumbai. Munna is a washerboy also living near Arun and Yasmin. The movie is about these four characters from different class of society and how the lives of four characters are intertwined.

Dev and Maya are both married to different people. Settled into a life of domestic ritual, and convinced that they are happy in their respective relationships, they still yearn for something deeper and more meaningful, which is precisely what they find in each other.

On a building site in present-day Tehran, Lateef, a 17-year-old Turkish worker is irresistibly drawn to Rahmat, a young Afghan worker. The revelation of Rahmat's secret changes both their lives.

Sweety has to contend with her over-enthusiastic family that wants her to get married but the ultimate truth is that her love might not find acceptance in her family and society.

A slim uneducated guy is pressured into an arranged marriage with an overweight college girl. The mismatched couple is challenged to compete in the annual wife-carrying race.

A government scheme sees newly widowed Santosh inherit her husband’s job as a police constable in the rural badlands of Northern India. When a low-caste girl is found raped and murdered, she is pulled into the investigation under the wing of charismatic feminist inspector Sharma.

An old villager deeply in love with his cow goes to the capital for a while. While he's there, the cow dies and now the villagers are afraid of his possible reaction to it when he returns.

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, rescues the stranded Zaara, a woman from Pakistan, following a bus accident, and their lives are forever bound.

After running away from home in search of movie stardom, a village girl rises to become a prominent sex symbol.

A young artist tries to win the heart of his muse, while her mother hatches a scheme to end his quest for true love.

Several alumni reminisce about their final year at St. Theresa's College and the events that shaped their lives.

A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits.

At the cusp of India's birth as an Independent nation, a family makes an arduous journey to freedom at a cost. A young boy Bharat, makes a promise to his Father that he will keep his family together no matter what.

After Suman's father leaves her in the care of another family while he travels abroad, she falls in love with Prem. However, in order to for them to marry, Prem has to prove to Suman's father that he is not the same as his own dad.

Ludo is about the butterfly effect and how, despite all the chaos and crowd of the world, all our lives are inextricably connected. From a resurfaced sex tape to a rogue suitcase of money, four wildly different stories overlap at the whims of fate, chance and one eccentric criminal.

A common man kidnaps the son of the Home Minister of India to get answers about the loss of his own son, caused by the illegal acts committed by corrupt government officials.

Both Dhanraj Singh and Randhir Singh are two bitter and old time enemies. They faced a disastrous situation when their children, Raj and Rashmi fall deeply in love. They openly declare their hatred for one another and will do anything in their power, even kill - but they will not accept their children's choice. But Raj and Rashmi are dedicated to their love and are not willing to accept the fact that their fathers are mutual enemies.

A woman threatens to leave her husband unless he installs a toilet in their home. To win back her love and respect, he heads out on a journey to fight against the backward society.

After her stepdaughter is sexually assaulted at a party, a furious mother sets out to destroy the lives of the four perpetrators who walked free.

A poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, always sticks to her own moral code.

The son of a wealthy businessman finds solace in drugs and alcohol when he breaks up with his childhood love.

Tough ex-convict Inder and traditional mousy Saraswati fall in love and get married, but a tragedy changes their lives forever. The film is a modern rendition of the legends of Shiva-Sati and the novel Love Story by Eric Segal.

Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.

Prem and Nisha meet and fall in love at the wedding of their elder siblings, but their plans to be together are put in jeopardy when Nisha's sister dies, leaving behind a baby.

A rowdy ex-college boy who, after a hazing session, loses his heart to first year student Nirjara, a traditional Brahmin girl.

Mrs. Bakshi is eager to find suitors for her four unmarried daughters when a family friend introduces them to handsome American Will Darcy. A Bollywood-style modern adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel.

A young woman's life is shattered into pieces when her husband slaps her at a party, causing her to question what this relationship stands for.

Dan, a 21-year-old carefree boy is always surrounded by a bunch of friends and fellow hotel interns who feed off each other's everyday moments, their ups and downs. Shiuli is also an intern working in the same hotel, who at times is at a receiving end of Dan's audaciousness. Everything was normal in their life until a sudden turn of events smashes Dan and Shiuli's lives together, into a bond.

Roshan, an NRI, arrives in Old Delhi with his ailing grandmother and starts to rediscover himself before getting caught in a religious dispute that shakes the once peaceful neighborhood.

The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

A tragic accident pushes the powerful Sikandar to protect the less fortunate by standing up to corruption and greed — using any means necessary.

A young man named Satya comes to Mumbai from South India in search of a job. Jailed for something he did not do, the once-honest young man meets an underworld boss, Bhiku Mhatre in jail and joins his gang.

Two artistic souls find harmony through music despite their contrasting worlds. As feelings deepen, age and circumstances challenge their undeniable bond.

Raj, a successful businessman, has everything going for him, including a lovely wife. Just when he thinks things can't get any better, Sonia — his ex-girlfriend, now the boss's wife — walks back into his life, and she wants Raj at any cost.

Impoverished priest Harihar Ray leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. His wife, Sarbojaya, looks after their rebellious daughter, Durga, and young son, Apu. The children enjoy the small pleasures of their difficult life.

Bauji resists his daughter's request to let her marry the man she loves as the neighbours incessantly shame him. However, his opinion changes after he meets him and he decides to change his viewpoint.

An inseparable couple Saira and Shiva find themselves in a complicated situation when a stranger claims to be her reincarnated lover from their previous lifetime, hellbent on destroying their relationship and winning her back.




