Arth

A 1982 drama with Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda in the lead. All amazing actors together, a real treat ! Inder An ambitious director gets involved with a successful actress, Kavita. He deserts his wife,Pooja. Pooja sets on a lone journey to find her true identity. Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, it is one of the iconic movies made in Hindi.It is one of the 25 must see bollywood movies as compiled by Indiatimes Movies.

Pooja, an orphan always dreamed of owning a house. She becomes insecure when she has to leave the rented apartment along with her husband, Inder.She gets the keys for a new house. She has been giving advice to her maid, Rohini Hattangadi, cheated by her husband now finds herself in a similar situation. Inder leaves her for Kavita. Pooja goes to live in a hostel taking along Rs. 2000 that she had when she married. She is helped by Raj, Raj Kiran, to tide over difficulties faced being a single woman. they become good friends. Kavita’s insecurities mount & don’t decrease even when Inder makes Pooja sign the divorce papers.

Arth ( The meaning) is a pathbreaker movie of all times. It has memorable soundtrack by Jagjit Singh & Chitra Singh. The composition By Kaifi Azmi is brilliant. ‘Jhuki jhuki si Nazar..’ by Jagjit Singh, ‘ Koi ye kaise bataye..’,’ teri khushboo mein base..’,’ Tum itna kyun muskura rahe ho…’ also by Jagjit Singh are the evergreen ghazals. With Chitra Singh’s ‘Too nahin to zindagi main…’ make up the entire atmosphere. It doubled its investment, described as a hit.

Raj proposes to Pooja but she refuses. Her maid finds that her husband has stolen money that she had saved for her daugher’s admission. She walks up to him only to find him in the other woman’s arms. She kills him,confesses her crime & asks Pooja to take care of her daughter. On insistence of Kavita’s mother & her doctor Pooja visits Kavita, tells her she is no longer interested in Inder. Her attitude only convinces Kavita that breaking her marriage was a mistake.

She breaks up with Inder to do away with her feeling of guilt. Inder tries to make up with Pooja ,who rejects him.Pooja continues living with her maid’s daughter & refuses to marry Raj, as that would weaken her. Now she is used to her independent life. Such an end was much applauded. The best dialogue in the film is when Inder asks her to take him back, she asks,’Agar tum meri jagah hote toh kya karte? ‘ He is so arrogant, he says, ‘ mein tumhe kabhi maaf nahi karta’ ‘Toh mein bhi tumhe maaf nahi kar sakti’ & she turns & walks away. The expression on the face of Kulbhushan Kharbanda is priceless.

Shabana Azmi won the national award for best actress, along with Filmfare’s best actress award. Supporting actress award won by Rohini Hattangadi. In 1983 Madhukar shinde won award for best art direction by Bengal film journalist asso.Mahesh Bhatt & Smita Patil also had nomination for the Filmfare award. It was well received by the audience.

It is a semi-autobiographical film written by Mahesh Bhatt about his extra marital affair with Parveen Babi. The film was remade in Tamil in 1993 by Balu mahendra. In 2017, a Pakistani director Shaan Shahid released a sequel, Arth 2 & Bhatt acted as a mentor for the production.

‘Something to talk about” has Dennis Quaid & Julia Roberts in the lead. Her world shatters when she discovers her husband has been cheating her. Many events follow. In the end he asks for forgiveness & she does. What? It was a miserable end to end it all . How lame!’Arth’ as the meaning goes really has the ‘Meaning’ to it. The Hindi movie has nailed it.

Recently saw a short film, White shirt starring Kritika Kamra & Kunal Kapoor. She asks him to leave when he is brings another woman to their house in her absence. He is like…just that once. He packs his bag but leaves his white shirt. Rings up & says he’ll pick up on his way. She hangs it on a hanger , packs in a bag to carry along & again the meet is postponed. She wears it for a day & is happy. She rings him up & meets at the usual place. She gives the bag . He has ordered her favourite Biryani with aloo. She refuses saying she has other plans for dinner & leaves. I was reminded of ‘Arth’ Immediately! to be assertive when needed is important.

More such good stories to follow. Happy viewing!