Vicky Kaushal on Thursday celebrated 10 years of Masaan, the critically-acclaimed film by director Neeraj Ghaywan that marked the actor's debut in Hindi cinema. The Varanasi-set drama, written by Varun Grover, became a critical success after it was released on July 24, 2015, with Kaushal receiving praise for his role as Deepak Kumar, a lower caste student who falls in love with his upper caste classmate.
"It's been a decade! So much to learn, so much to grow... thank you for everything," the 37-year-old actor posted on Instagram alongside stills from the film.
Masaan, a colloquial word in Varanasi for cremation ground, had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival where it won two awards FIPRESCI award and the Promising Future prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
The film weaved together two parallel stories that explore themes of love, loss, caste, guilt, and redemption.
Since Masaan, Kaushal has emerged as one of the top stars in Hindi cinema, receiving praise for his performances in films such as Raman Raghav 2.0, Raazi, Sanju, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Sardar Udham and most recently Chhaava.
In an interview with PTI ahead of the release of Chhaava in February, Kaushal said his journey in the industry so far has been nothing short of "surreal".
“Couldn’t have imagined… It feels very surreal. It feels there is God who’s blessing me and people’s love has been so special. The kind of directors I got to work with in these ten years has been nothing short of a blessing. So, I truly feel supremely grateful,” Vicky said.
The actor, son of veteran stuntman Sham Kaushal, also revealed that during the shooting of Masaan, they weren’t even sure if the film would get a theatrical release.
"We didn’t know what’s going to happen to the film. It was a small film made with very limited resources. It was a parallel cinema at that time. Now, the lines have blurred quite beautifully, but there was a clear demarcation between the two then.
“At that time, I was just trying to get opportunities to prove myself as an actor within the industry,” Vicky said.
Neeraj, who recently returned to Cannes with his sophomore feature directorial "Homebound", shared behind-the-screen stills from the film.
"10 years of Masaan," he simply wrote.
Varun wrote the story of Masaan as well as two songs, including ‘Tu Kisi Rail Si’ and he posted a note on X to mark the film's 10th anniversary.
"10 years to Masaan today. A film that didn’t succeed commercially and still permeated through the hearts of so many who interacted with it. Always grateful for the journey we took, the leap of faith we were allowed to make, and the love that keeps pouring in even after a decade. Thanks to everyone on the crew - from every producer to actor to HOD to every lightman to the spotboys and camera attendants to the junior artistes - who gave it their all," he posted.
Avinash Arun, the cinematographer of Masaan wrote on his Instagram Stories, "10 years of Masaan. Thank you Neeraj and Varun for making us all part of this memorable experience."
Also starring Richa Chadha, Shweta Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi, the film was an Indo-French co-production, backed by Drishyam Films, Macassar Productions, Phantom Films, Sikhya Entertainment, Arte France Cinema and Pathe Productions.
