The problem was the line. In Kanpur, the line was everywhere—between the street and the bedroom, between what a man reads and what he admits to reading. One day, a local moral crusader, a mustachioed man named Dubeyji, launched a campaign. “These dirty booklets,” he thundered at the chai stall, “they corrupt our daughters! We must find this ‘Mastram’ and break his hands!”
: Facing rejection and financial strain, Rajaram discovers that adding erotic elements to his stories makes them sell instantly. Birth of an Icon : He adopts the pen name mastram movie 2013
Given its subject matter, it's unsurprising that Mastram sparked significant controversy even before its release. political party objected to the film's promotional posters, which featured suggestive taglines like: "If you don't know about Mastram, please ask your father and uncle about him" . The city's transport authority (BEST) subsequently asked the producers to remove these "objectionable lines" from advertisements on its buses. The problem was the line
: Set in the 1980s, the film attempts to capture a realistic, rural small-town feel. “These dirty booklets,” he thundered at the chai
| Metric | Amount | | :--- | :--- | | | ₹6 crore | | Estimated Box Office Collection | ₹4.5 crore - ₹4.71 crore | | Opening Day Collection | approx. ₹75 lacs |
Given its subject matter, "Mastram" was embroiled in controversy even before its theatrical release: