Rajeev Masand

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 newspaper. He later became assistant editor at The Indian Express. 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 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'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, News18, The Quint 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 in connection with Sushant Singh Rajput'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 and filmmaker Apurva Asrani also called out Masand over his blind items on Rajput.

References

References

1. "Rajeev Masand".
2. (15 April 2025). "Karan Johar’s DCA chief Rajeev Masand admits entourage costs have ‘spiralled irrationally’, says introspection is required when makeup artists make more than writers". The Indian Express.
3. [http://www.rajeevmasand.com/about/ Rajeev Masand] {{Webarchive. link. (3 September 2023 Retrieved 12 October 2017.)
4. "Rajeev Masand Introduction". [[STAR News]].
5. "Film Reviews: Masand's Verdict". IBNLive.
6. (30 December 2008). "CNN-IBN lines up various specials to bied adieu to 2006". Indian Television.
7. (20 August 2008). "CNN-IBN to launch third season of To Catch a Star". Indian Television.
8. "Rajeev Masand".
9. "About « Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else".
10. Radhakrishnan, Manjusha. (21 July 2020). "Kangana Ranaut lashes out at Bollywood film critic Rajeev Masand". [[Gulf News]].
11. (21 July 2020). "Sushant Singh Rajput suicide: Film critic Rajeev Masand to be questioned by Mumbai Police over alleged blind articles".