Rajeev Masand (born 13 March 1976) is an Indian

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He has worked for

Noida Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...

based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films and major

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

films released in India in his weekend show ''Now Showing''. He has joined Dharma Productions as a talent manager.

Early life

Masand studied at H.R. College of Commerce and Economics and graduated from Mumbai University, Masand started reporting at the age of 16 at ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' newspaper. He later became assistant editor at ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

''. In January 2003, he joined STAR News as a special correspondent and as the host of ''Masand Ki Pasand''. In 2005, Masand moved to

CNN-IBN CNN News18 is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides international coverage for the c ...

where he is currently the film critic and runs an ongoing video reviews series on the CNN-IBN website, ''Masand's Verdict''. He also became the host of CNN-IBN's entertainment series, ''To Catch a Star''.

Career

Masand also has a popular YouTube channel, where he posts weekly his film reviews (filmed as

CNN-News18 CNN News18 is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides international coverage for the ...

's 'Now Showing' segments, which are also posted concurrently to their channel) and regular interviews with key figures in the entertainment industry (both Indian and occasionally International), mostly actors and directors. Additionally, he writes as an entertainment-industry columnist for several publications, such as Open Magazine,

Firstpost Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, ( d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief ...

The Quint ''The Quint'' is an English and Hindi language Indian general news and opinion website founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur after their exit from Network18. The publication's journalists have won three Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism ...

and for his own website, ''Rajeevmasand.com''. Among other recognitions, Masand was thrice awarded ‘Best Entertainment Critic’ by the National Television (NT) Awards, in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Criticism

Masand was called for questioning by

Mumbai Police The Greater Mumbai Police (Marathi language, Marathi: बृहन्मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Brihanmumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay City Police'') is the Police, police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a cit ...

in connection with

Sushant Singh Rajput Sushant Singh Rajput (21 January 1986 – 14 June 2020) was an Indian actor best known for his work in Hindi cinema. He earned acclaim for his performances in several notable films, including ''Kai Po Che!'' (2013), ''Detective Byomkesh Bakshy ...

's death. Masand has been accused by actress Kangana Ranaut of writing blind items (in which details are reported without identifying the people involved or revealing sources) to discredit Rajput. Actor

Manoj Bajpayee Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including four National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, and two ...

and filmmaker Apurva Asrani also called out Masand over his blind items on Rajput.

References

External links

*
Blog at IBNLive
* Indian film critics Indian male television journalists Living people 1979 births Journalists from Uttar Pradesh {{India-journalist-stub