10 moments from Masaan that prove it’s a masterpiece that can’t be recreated!

Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan turns 10 today, but the film only feels to grow more powerful with time. So, here are some moments that show you why it still resonates so deeply!

Ten years ago, a small film quietly arrived with a story set in the ghats and gullies of Banaras at backdrop of railways. It followed people who were bruised by life, navigating love, loss, and most of all, survival in a society that never lets you forget where you come from or what your limits are. This was the film that introduced us to a then-unknown Vicky Kaushal, whose debut shattered expectations. It also solidified the craft of dependable actors like Richa Chadha, Sanjay Mishra, Pankaj Tripathi, and Shweta Tripathi. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and gave Indian cinema a filmmaker who changed the language of storytelling, Neeraj Ghaywan. Alongside him was screenwriter Varun Grover, whose words rooted the film in a haunting realism where every casual moment from life seems poetic.

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This film gave us a lot, but more than anything, it gave us a gaze. As the camera becomes a witness simply observing never interfering, we witness lived lives of people where their journyes become a metaphor and a soundscape that let silence speak, allowing two contrasting love stories to find their footing in a world surrounded by death. While Devi confronts the consequences of falling in love as a woman, Deepak learns what it means to love and to lose simultaneously. And in the background, the cycle of burning funeral pyres continues. We see a corrupt policeman hungry for bribes, a father desperate to protect his daughter, and a family from a lower caste trying to break free from generational shackles of being Doms, the keepers of the last rites, and fire of the funeral pyre.

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Here are 10 moments from Masaan that stood witness to these stories and remain etched in our hearts forever

Two balloons in the air becomes a quiet confession of love

Deepak and Shallu’s love begins with their best friends, grows through Facebook chats, and shy glances in a crowd. But it’s at a local festival that their feelings are truly shown when Deepak lets go of a balloon into the sky, and Shallu quietly does the same. A small, silent gesture that says everything about love confessions in a crowded India where two people build their own language of love that they understand, while the rest of the world doesn’t even notice.

A terrace that quietly watches young love bloom

In a scene that feels all too familiar, two young people steal moments on their phones, slowly falling in love. Talking on the phone in long drawn conversations sharing shayaris on the terrace becomes their secret, a silent witness to their growing bond, where poetry is shared and birds fly freely in the open sky, just like their hearts.

A ring that holds both pain and freedom

Shallu wears a red-gold ring, a gift from her uncle during childhood, now stuck on her finger. It’s this very ring that helps Deepak recognise her body when it’s brought to him for cremation, a cruel twist of fate for a boy born into the Dom caste, keepers of the funeral pyres, who must now burn the body of the girl he loved. Later, Deepak throws the ring into the river, a quiet act of letting go which is then found by a young boy who gives it to Vidyadhar Pathak. He sells it to free himself and his daughter from the grip of a corrupt policeman. In two different moments, the same ring becomes a symbol of love lost and freedom gained.

Devi Pathak stands up for herself

Devi is a woman trying to build her own identity in a world that constantly tries to hold her back. After being caught in a so-called scandal, where she was found with a boy who later took his own life, she is left speechless and shamed. But one day, while leaving her second job and looking for better work that matches her education, she finally stands up for herself. She tells her father that just like he isn’t to blame for her mother’s death, she isn’t to blame for that boy’s. She says she’ll handle it on her own. In that moment, Devi refuses to be shamed for her desires or for loving someone, finally standing up for herself. 

Kheer and Sadhya Ji becomes a symbol of hope 

As Devi tries to rebuild her life, she finds a kind-hearted colleague in Sadhya Ji at her new railway job. With his gentle smile and soft nature, he slowly helps her see that not all men want to hurt her. The kheer he offers her becomes more than just food, it becomes a small moment of sweetness, a symbol of hope and happiness. A reminder that even in the darkest times, life still offers something warm, if you're willing to taste it.

A house that holds closure

As Devi begins to let go of her guilt, she takes the brave step of visiting the house of the boy who died. The camera stays outside, but we hear everything. The sound of the boy’s father slapping her and his mother defending her says more than any image could. It’s at that moment we know something inside Devi shifts. This is the closure she has longed for, the moment that finally allows her to move on.

A ghat that symbolises love, death, and hypocrisy

As funeral pyres burn in the background, men sit around drinking and talking, revealing the harsh hypocrisy of life for the Dom community. Even though they play a sacred role by helping souls move on through cremation, they are still treated as outcasts because of their link with death and impurity in the caste system. This reality explains why Deepak hides where he lives from Shallu, and why his elder brother is filled with anger at being trapped in this endless cycle of poverty and discrimination. As Deepak’s father points out society’s double standards, we begin to understand the heavy weight this family carries.

A small boy, a reckless game, and a father’s helplessness

Vidyadhar Pathak is desperate to save his daughter from going to jail. Struggling to gather ₹3 lakhs to pay off a corrupt policeman, he turns to a betting game he once feared. In a risky moment, Chotu, the young boy helping at his shop, dives into the river to win the game, almost drowning but returning with a ring. That ring becomes Pathak’s way out of his helplessness. A once-proud professor, now reduced to tears over his daughter’s scandal, finds a sliver of hope in the most unexpected way.

A boat and the Sangam becomes about letting go and starting again

Two heartbroken people, Deepak and Devi, both carrying the weight of lost love, find themselves at the steps of the Sangam. When Devi lets go of her lover’s last gift into the water, Deepak silently understands her pain. As they sit together on a boat, gently floating on the Sangam, there’s a quiet hope that two wounded souls might finally find some peace, and maybe, a new beginning.

A dialogue that says it all

Though often used in memes and pop culture, its true meaning has stayed with us. After a long silence, when Deepak finally says, “Yeh dukh kaahe khatam nahi hota” (Why doesn’t this pain ever end?), it strikes something deep, a reminder that great love often comes with long-lasting grief. Another dialogue that lingers long after the film ends is when Sadhya Ji says, “Yahan aana aasaan hai, yahan se jaana mushkil.” (It’s easy to come here, but hard to leave.) It captures the spirit of Banaras, the film and life itself where love and loss are entwined and people are constantly moving between arrivals and farewells.

What is a moment from Masaan that stood out for you? Tell us in the comments below! 

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