Disney+ Hotstar’s recent release “Masoom” is adapted from the Irish psychological thriller “Blood.” Directed by Mihir Desai and produced by Gurmeet Singh, the duo who brought “Mirzapur.” This series delivers a story of a family whose members constantly lie to each other to protect their secrets. Indeed, many flawed families stay together to protect their secrets from outsiders. While British screenwriter Sophie Petzal’s “Blood” received international acclaim, including the prestigious Writer’s Guild of Britain award, Satyam Tripathy’s writing in “Masoom” has failed to create an impact.
OTTs have been very productive with mystery thrillers throughout the last couple of years. There have been many stand-out mystery thrillers, from “Pataal Lok” to “Suzhal The Vortex.” Amazon Prime has set the standards so high that it is almost impossible for other OTTs to deliver a new idea in this genre. “Asur” had its share of attention, but Disney+ Hotstar has repeatedly failed in this segment. Then comes “Masoom,” a thought-provoking series about a family with many mysteries yet to be unraveled. A good attempt indeed, but was it outstanding? Let’s find out.
What Happens In “Masoom”?
The makers introduce the lead characters in the story right away. After Sana Kapoor (played by Samara Tijori) came to know about her mother’s death, drove back to her home from Delhi. Her father, Dr. Balraj Kapoor (played by Boman Irani), who owned a nursing home in the village, Falauli, and stood for elections, was a respected figure. Sana was the youngest of all three siblings. From the very beginning, it is seen that the relationship between Sana and her father is not on good terms. She even had the feeling that her mother was killed by her father. Her elder sister Sanjana Kapoor (played by Manjari Fadnnis), explained how she discovered that their mother was dead. The locker in the room was wide open, and a sum of 25 lacs was missing. There was a hint that the robbery could’ve been the reason behind Gunwat’s (played by Upasana Singh) death, but Sana picked up all the evidence that pointed straight at Dr. Balraj Kapoor.
At the end of episode 3, Sana decided to file a case against her father for murdering her mother. Ten years ago, there was an incident where little Sana saw her father beating up Mr. Sodhi, the father of her childhood friend Monty. Later that day, Sodhi committed suicide, and Sana told everyone that she saw her father beating him. Sana thought it was Balraj Kapoor who was responsible for the death of Sodhi. Everyone in the family told her that she was lying. Ten years later, Sana discovered that all the clues led to one possible outcome. She thought the police must know about her father’s killings. She asked Monty to demand his father’s post-mortem report from Dr. Balraj Kapoor. Dr. Kapoor warned Monty that he might regret it when he got the answers he was searching for. Sana even learned about the affair between her father and Romi Kaul (played by Sarika Singh). So, that, too, was a motive for Dr. Balraj to kill Gunwat.
The post-mortem report suggested that it was a suicide, and Sana now confronted her siblings. She told them what she saw ten years ago was not a lie. Now, her elder sister Sanjana finally revealed that the whole family knew she was not lying. They made her a liar because it was necessary for both families. Sanjana continued that Sodhi harassed their mother while Balraj was not at home. Gunwat ignored the issue, knowing how close Sodhi and Balraj were, but Sanjana blabbered about the incident to Balraj. This was the reason why Balraj angrily beat up Sodhi. What Sana saw was not a lie, but she didn’t know the actual reason behind it. Sodhi was standing for election, so he feared he would have to face the utmost shame if this leaked. This is the reason why he committed suicide, leaving behind a note.
Balraj handed over the note to Monty, and the truth about his father was so upsetting that he, too, committed suicide. He shot himself with Balraj’s gun that Sana had asked him to keep. Sana took the gun without Balraj’s knowledge, and now he was in deep trouble. Balraj’s hope of standing in the elections thinned out as he was being charged with the suicide case of Monty. Sana decided to face up to her father. Dr. Balraj Kapoor came and finally admitted that he killed his mother. But it had nothing to do with Romi or anything. Dr. Balraj assisted Gunwat in her suicide to get rid of the pain she had been having for so long. He wanted to give peace to his most loved one, hence the killing.
Why Did No One Tell The Truth To Sana 10 Years Ago?
The title of the series quite precisely represents the answer. “Masoom,” or innocent, is one of the many judgments we make that cause harm in the long run. How so? If Sana knew the truth, she wouldn’t have picked Balraj as her enemy from the beginning. She wouldn’t have picked a fight for every possible reason with her father. Also, there remains another perspective. Why do we avoid talking about things like the harassment of kids? Is it for their safety or our own? Sana took Sodhi as a loving and caring uncle. If she knew that he had tried to harass her mother, would she even understand the seriousness of that? Also, was she required to know what happened? But, again, making her a liar in front of everyone was not a good idea. This gave her trauma and made her feel insecure for the rest of her life. Keeping a family’s secret is not an easy job unless the members are mature. Sana was never allowed to know the truth because of her immaturity. If she knew the truth, she would’ve talked about it with Monty. As a child, he didn’t need to know the truth about his father. Thus, to avoid compromising the secret of the family, no one told the truth to Sana 10 years ago.
What Exactly Was The Reason For Sana’s Traumatic Episodes?
If we think that making Sana a liar in front of her close ones triggered her trauma, then we will be wrong. A character named Manraj sexually abused her at every chance he got. Now, how did people in the family not find out about this? Sana never told anyone about this because no one believed her when she said about her father beating up Sodhi. As everyone cornered Sana when she knew she was telling the truth, she created a defensive wall from within. She stopped sharing anything that happened to her with anyone in the family. Manraj took this chance and gradually abused her, knowing she wouldn’t tell anyone. This is one of the reasons why Sana moved out of the village too and avoided coming back. But, as Sana grew, she started to exasperate her trauma until the time she slapped Manraj in public for touching her.
Why Did Dr. Balraj Kapoor Kill His Wife? Did He?
From the very beginning, the life of Gunwat meant the world to Dr. Balraj Kapoor. He loved his wife so much that it tormented him from within to see her in pain. The woman the “doctor saab” fell in love with was a poet and a healer. The woman, who loved to care for every single person in the village, was bedridden due to an incurable disease. There are scenes where Dr. Balraj is taking care of her in a very loving, gentle way, arranging dinner dates for couples in the house and dancing in front of Gunwat to make her happy.
But, if we solely talk about the relationship between Dr. Kapoor and Gunwat, it is overwhelming. Dr. Balraj Kapoor was also an overcaring father who took care of his children by making decisions on their behalf. He almost went bankrupt in this process of taking care of everyone, but then a local leader offered him a chance to stand for elections. He also gave him a tremendous amount of money, which made Gunwat upset. She never wanted Dr. Balraj to be a part of politics, and she also knew that her disease made him take the money. From that point, Gunwat wanted to end her miserable days by asking Balraj to ease her pain.
It was a thought that never came across Balraj’s mind, but one day, Gunwat fell from her wheelchair and injured herself. The physical pain was not what worried her; the fact that she could not even pick herself up made her cry. She had had enough. She said to Balraj that he would’ve let her go if he had ever loved her. Balraj was in a mammoth dilemma as he assisted Gunwat on her way to commit suicide. Dr. Balraj Kapoor did not murder Gunwat Kapoor; if anything, his love for his family was so pure that he did not want anyone to carry the burden of the truth.
‘Masoom’ Season 1: Ending, Explained – What Happened To Sanjana?
At the end of episode 6, there is a scene where Dr. Balraj Kapoor comes to see his elder daughter Sanjana in the hospital. There he interacted with a police officer who said she had no license. Dr. Balraj said she was in a hurry as she was looking for her husband. Then, the inspector shocked him with the news that she had murdered her husband. There was a time when Sanjana’s husband slapped her, and from that time, she lived with Dr. Balraj Kapoor. But, in the end, Balraj told her that if she wanted to return to her husband, he wouldn’t interrupt. Her husband had already become sober and apologized many times.
Now, there is a chance he was lying and did not give up drinking. Or, there was a time when Sanjan confessed to Sana that she was also dying. She had these episodes where she blacked out. Even after discovering Gunwat’s dead body, she blacked out for some time. It is highly probable that when Sanjana searched for her husband, she finally found him on the road. Before she could stop the car, she blacked out and accidentally killed her husband. The officer also said she crashed her car into a canal. So this explains the black-out theory, as there is a possibility that she blacked out and ran over her husband, then the car crashed into a canal. Anyway, it is evident that a second season is coming soon, and Dr. Balraj Kapoor will again do everything he can to protect his family.
A Boman Irani Show
Let’s talk about Boman Irani for a minute. Undoubtedly, he has been outstanding throughout his acting career. Here, he had to develop at least three different sets of personalities. First, the suspected cold-blooded murderer that Sana thinks he is. Second, he was a caring father, a protector who would do anything to take care of his family. Third, a lover who, no matter what, won’t stop loving his wife. Let me tell you this; the man exceeds all expectations. There was a time when Gunwat was reading her poetry, and Dr. Balraj Kapoor was in tears listening to it. That scene, especially, was so intense that you cannot help but applaud Mr. Irani’s performance.
Other actors, too, have performed brilliantly. Samara Tijori acted sharply as a lead character. Upasana Singh’s subtle dialogue delivery had this loving essence throughout the series. Her poetry-reading is one of the skills that need to be cheered. The most important thing was she never overperformed. Veer Rajwant Singh and Manjari Fadnnis also did their part well.
The music composed by Anand Bhaskar has been one of the many good things in this series. The lyrics of the songs are well written. The cinematography has been very good. The writing could’ve been more intense as the character of Manraj went unexplored. These sorts of characters leave a profound impact on the minds of the audience. His introduction was not astonishing, and neither was his demise. Also, Sanjana deserved a lot more attention since she went through a lot. Hopefully, in the next season, Sanjana will be treated in a better manner.
“Masoom” is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. You can watch it and share your review in the comment section.
