The wrong way to
famous, but still become un-famous, thats all Mastram says
Conjuring up images of
your best friend pumping up the passion in your wife and soon the latter giving
in to the former’s desperate moves to indulge in an uninhibited pleasure-fest
could be the stuff of outrageously kinky psyche. But such imagery could be (and
mostly, it is) a must for a porn writer to set the tone of his erotic canvas to
sell his stories and make a living. While our civilized society may deny,
detest and abhor such indulgence, terming it immoral or even animal-like, it’s
the same men, who form our largely hypocritical society, indulge in such crazy
fantasies behind closed doors of their private spaces.
Akhilesh Jaiswal’s Mastram shows
the life of a semi-porn writer who makes living by selling ‘spicy’ stories- not
out of choice, but out of commercial demands. In today’s world where television
and the internet rule our collective consciousness, where the most common
diktat followed is-Jo dikhta hi wohi bikta hai. In the 80′s when print was
the most effective medium to reach out to people, the rule was slightly
tweaked-Jo masaledar likhta hai wohi bikta hai!
The writer of Gangs
of Wasseypur gives a fictional account of a chap who sold sexual
fantasies to men, but remained anonymous to the world he catered to. Here’s a
portrayal of Mastram who exploited the most basic instinct, the most mysterious
facet of human behavior, arousing sexual heat with his erotic writing. He had
mastered the craft of titillation by employing his seductive words. In the end
he sold what he was fabulous at. And above all, he simply followed the common
math of demand and supply.
In this fictional
account of one of the most read –and only secretly celebrated-erotic writers of
the country, Jaiswal gives us the journey of a man who chose to sell
dangerously dark fantasies. “Mastram was not a bad guy. So what if he wrote
porn? I have shown him as a good man, a good family man who wants to be a
writer. He tries to follow his dreams, but with financial burden and people
rejecting his other writings, he eventually starts writing porn,” said Jaiswal
about the movie in an interview. The first time filmmaker sticks to the basics
and mounts the movie that’s short and effective.
Rajaram (Rahul Bagga),
a luckless writer who’s trying to hawk his literary masterpieces to unwilling
publishers who are forever is search of something that’s new, saleable and masaledar.
The newly married Rajaram is hard-pressed for money. He decides to exploit the
situations and people around him to most erotic effects. He hides behind a pen
name to make money to sell the stuff the wet dreams are made of. The otherwise
innocuous baniya, nurse, his best buddy and even his wife ( Tara Alisha
Berry) start flowing into his stories to form ‘interesting’ characters in
highly titillating stories. Will Mastram be able to sustain success
and what social as well moral issues will he cast lights on with his journey is
what you have to watch the movie for.
Catch this breezy, easy
on the eye film on a lazy summer afternoon. Mastram may not ‘stimulate’ you
with his craft, but he will certainly makes a delightful watch.
Caution: If you are
planning to walk into the theaters to feast you eyes on either the steamy
action or Savita bhabhi sexapades, you have no business here. Better stick to
the net instead and cherish the stuff that’s just a click away!
