Rooted with values, traditions, and a complex touch of modernity, Varanasi is the soul of Masaan. The soundtrack ‘Mann Kasturi’ decodes this nature of the soul and is as beautiful as the story of the film. The film follows two stories parallelly but this song is more associated with Deepak’s (Vicky Kaushal) character as his life turns upside down after the sudden death of his loved one Shaalu (Shweta Tripathi ) and this song plays while Deepak’s character is contemplating over his past, present and future. The meaning conveyed through this song using various metaphors by Varun Grover makes it more impressive and a standout for the story too.
The picturization of this song too paints a portrait of one’s scattered thoughts. A scene where Deepak throws the ring and then dives into the river to find it defines our nature i.e impulsive enough to decide to ‘Let it Go’, but deep down we yearn for it and the quest is endless.
“Paat na paaya meetha paani, Or chor ki doori re.”
Even the purest of things, i.e. sweet river water,
Couldn’t bridge the gap of this side and that side.
Decoding the meaning of the song which goes as that even Ganges can’t fill the divides between castes and genders that we have created in our society. Deepak is of a low caste while his love Shalu belonged to an upper caste. Deepak always had a feeling of inferiority in the relationship just because of the family where he was born. Even something as pure as Love could not suppress these divides.
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