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Ms. Amanpreet Kaur
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Submitted by:
Shashwat
Registration No: 11617009
CERTIFICATE
Signed……………………………. Date………………….
Shashwat 3
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that work entitled, “Theme of Existence in Masaan and Ship of Theseus”
has been carried out by me under the supervision of Ms. Amanpreet Kaur, Department of
English, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab. No part of this dissertation has
formed the basis for the award of any degree or fellowship previously.
Shashwat
Registration No: 11617009
Lovely Professional University
Phagwara, Punjab
Signed……………… Date………….......
Shashwat 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I deeply express my gratitude to my parents and classmates for their encouragement and
inspiration at every step of present work.
Abstract:
The concept of life and death has been inherent since the existence of this universe.
How it’s been dealt with and how it’s seen by humans keep evolving with time. One,
somehow, cannot point their finger at it and say to have unravelled its mysteries as it
is much larger an entity for mere humans to even get an iota of its understanding.
Still, various thinkers and philosophers have always given a perspective about it – be
it its inutility or its significance. Innumerable works have been published that somewhat
Cinema has always been an important medium for the depiction as well as entertainment
of the society since its inception. But there are some films that stand apart from the
usual lot and take a route of exploring deeper perspectives. Two such films in Hindi
This research paper is an attempt to explore how life and death make up as an
important element in both the films, either literally or metaphorically, and somehow is
a completion of both the films together. Masaan deals with the beginning and the end
for the major part and its effect. Ship of Theseus, on the other hand, is concerned with
what causes the disarray in this circle of life and death. Identity, existence, nihilism,
and liberation provide a firm base to this paper which intends to further extend their
Outcomes:
Introduction:
The search to meaning of one’s existence is not something that is done intentionally
with a proper blueprint to achieve a certain goal but is rather a process that is perpetual.
It evolves with the passage of time but not specifically to reach to a fix point, but to
leave back its crumbs so that it could further evolve into a better shape. People do
question their place in this universe and how the universe impacts them to be who
they are. The causality of everything that happens concerns our identity, and every act
that takes place has its role to play in this universe. Ship of Theseus poses a question
mark on the identity of existence itself. How realisation of one’s unique position in
this universe and their force that forms up the space in this vast cosmos is purposeful
“As the planks of Theseus' ship needed repair, it was replaced part by part, up
to a point where not a single part from the original ship remained in it, anymore.
If all the discarded parts were used to build another ship, which of the two, if
The above intertitle describes the paradox related to the Ship of Theseus.
Masaan goes on to portray the bereavement that death causes. It becomes a struggle
to exist for the two main characters in the film. It’s based in Banaras, a town with
rich cultural significance and believed to be a place that has the capability to lead
people to salvation. As Mark Twain said about Banaras: “Banaras is older than history,
older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put
together.”
This paper attempts to draw parallels but also tries to connect the circle of life and
Subject:
There is a driving force behind every cause and effect; and everything that exists in
its totality doesn’t really stands alone but is in a relation with its surroundings – be it
on a small scale or a large one. The case with Ship of Theseus is the same, as it
takes the subject of organ transplant in relation to the famous paradox of its namesake.
And in the film’s case, it isn’t the ship but humans whose parts are replaced with
those of others. The significant difference that arises between the two cases – the
thought experiment and the film – is that in a living organism, every part has a life
of its own, unlike the planks of the sip that are replaced. Each organ in a person's
body is closely associated to them as like their identity. The phenomena of life and
So, when the photographer in the first story of Ship of Theseus goes through cornea
transplant, she experiences that her ability to click photographs, relying wholly on her
instincts and not eyes, is no more with her. She would click better photographs when
she had no vision in her eyes but after she got that, she could no longer remain the
artist she was. Now, there is a question on her own identity – if she actually is the
same person she was before the transplant. The change that took place in her was not
just of bodily element from another person but rather also of the definition of her own
existence. The feeling of not being one’s real self hits her.
A person’s existence is not only at physical or psychological level but it’s also based
on the identity that these things have contributed in the construction of that specific
entity’s meaning. Even if the gradual change of a person is taken into consideration,
the change is solely happening to them – they are amidst the causality. The outer
replacement of their body is coming out as a medium that shifts them to a position of
dilemma about their own self. They are no longer only them. At the same time, they
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are someone else also – which brings conflict in themselves about every deed of theirs,
too.
The presence of duality in nature is evident through course – such as life and death.
It’s so to find a balance between these dualities and keep walking on the rope as it
exists between them. It’s the second story of Ship of Theseus – of a monk – that
discusses about the causality and the thought that this universe has meaning in the way
it works. This story places existence on a pedestal and looks at it through a wonderful
yet humble perspective. The monk’s character Maitreya has a conversation with his
protégé Charavaka about how contradictions and polarities are the two ends of the same
rope. One has to eventually get liberation from perpetual the circle of life and death.
Now, this is where Masaan’s intertitle is coherent with the thought. As ‘Chakbast’
wrote, “What is life? A delicate arrangement of the five elements. What is death? A
Masaan’s intertitle in itself only creates a periphery around the concept of existence.
In Hinduism, the belief is that the body is made up of five elements: Earth, Air, Fire,
Water, and Space. Masaan is what constitutes to the beginning and the end, as Ship
of Theseus presents about what happens when fiddled with the middle. Both delicate
arrangement and the disturbance form a circle that also depicts the duality.
There are instances in the Masaan that display the efforts its characters put in in order
to break out of the minimal state in which they are trapped in – a state that is both
physical and psychological. These efforts could be taken as an attempt to escape the
monotonous form that existence has taken up in their lives. The setting of Banaras
adds to the motif as this is a place where people come to seek liberation and the
characters themselves are seeking an escape from this place itself. It constructs a
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dilemma in both – the characters minds and the attempt to escape from a small town.
Although, this small town is said to have, what Richard Lannoy has called a “mythic
understructure,” carrying its own unique significance. Devi remarks about the town that
and space.
In the monk’s story of Ship of Theseus, there are recurring mentions – either direct or
derivative – of nihilistic philosophy which is mainly put forth by the character Charavaka
during his conversations with Maitreya about their view of existence – including the
smallest of creatures that have a life-force. Possessing clashes in terms of stance, both
ideologies, though, somewhat have their own truth to it. However, Masaan, in no way
carries any kind of nihilistic stand on any ground. It’s full of meaning or the search
of it. Devi is in search for a space where her sexual freedom isn’t questioned. Deepak
is seeking to breakout from what his family has been doing since ages – burning
corpses. Even love is trying to survive amidst the caste barriers in that town. Shaalu,
belonging to an upper-caste family, realises that her family wouldn’t accept Deepak,
who is from a lower-caste, as her lover. The question of existence in Masaan is not
only of the body or the identity, it’s also about the emotions.
Another important segment that carries significance in these films are the songs. Masaan
has three while Ship of Theseus has only one major song. Among the three songs in
Masaan, the one song that presents the struggle and the magic of existence is Mann
Kasturi Re. It talks about the leftover that remains when one is not able to achieve
There comes a moment in everyone’s life in which they feel lost and knock different
doors in search of meaning even if the meaning is lying beneath themselves only.
Moreover, desires are like musk and humans are the deer who try to grasp them but
can’t. Acceptance has to pave its way into the person so that peace could take place
within. It’s also like getting a kind of liberation from the pain or suffering that life
throws.
On the other hand, the song that appears in Ship of Theseus is Naham Janami. The
No eternal judge.
The truth is multi-faceted, and there are many ways to reach it.
May my true self be liberated from the cycle of life and death.
As mentioned earlier, Ship of Theseus talks about causality to a greater extent. “The
"You say you're an atheist and at the same you believe in the concept of soul, which
I think is rather convenient. I do not think karmic causality is a reason enough for
anyone to behave ethically. You know, that there is retribution of any kind, in this life
or any other, it's like a weak man's hope for some cosmic revenge.”
"I agree with you. It is very easy to believe in something out of fear and guilt. All
"I hope I am. Contradictions and polarities are two ends of the same rope."
Both of them are having different perspectives about existence and trying to find a
balance in the duality that they are experiencing even while having a conversation.
The purpose in the song is to attain liberation in this life so as to break this cycle
Ship of Theseus has another story which deals with kidney transplant and the case of
morality related to it. The morality here is on individual level. While in Masaan, Devi
has a fight with the society as the case of her engaging in sex with her boyfriend
doesn’t remain only to herself. On an individual level, she is of the notion that there’s
nothing wrong that took place whereas concerning the town and the society, the stance
of morality is opposite. Both the characters want to shed this weight off and continue
their lives back. Here, stances are different but the outcome matters a lot in both of
the cases.
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The ending in both the film has a take on acceptance. In Ship of Theseus, all the three
of them, along with some others, come together to watch some videos shot by the
person whose organs they had received. In the last shot, all of them are together in
the room and the video that they are watching ends with the shadow of the cave
explorer – the organ donor. It creates an image of not the actual presence of that
person but just a form of him – as he is, in a way, present inside all the people that
are watching the videos shot by him. It also creates a sense that one cannot actually
break out to whatever they wish. There remains a sense that the circle doesn’t have
any gap; it’s complete in here. In Masaan too, Devi and Deepak have to let go of the
bereavement and come in terms with acceptance despite how difficult seemed. They
break out of the small town but not of the connection. There is river Ganga; and there
lies the acceptance, too. In the last scene, both Deepak and Devi get on a boat to
References:
Gandhi, Anand, Ship of Theseus, UTV Motion Pictures, Fortissimo Films, 2012
varanasi.html
Taseer, Aatish. “Like Rome, Mecca or Jerusalem, Benares spurs the spiritual
https://scroll.in/article/898879/like-mecca-rome-or-jerusalem-benares-spurs-the-spiritual-
imagination-writes-its-newest-chronicler