Arth

Arth is recognized as an offbeat film which dealt with a significant social issue, extramarital affair affecting conjugal relations. It is in this context, Arth is categorized as a Bollywood social movie. The film was released in the year 1982 and it was directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The leading actors like Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Rohini Hattangadi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Raj Kiran acted in this film.

The story of the film revolves round the insecurity of Pooja, an orphan girl played by Shabana Azmi and her husband Inder who appeared to be quite unloyal to his conjugal relation. The situation gets complicated with the intrusion of Kavita, the love interest of Inder. Inder even deserts Pooja for Kavita. Though Pooja accused Kavita for breaking her marriage but she never came back to Inder. Kavita turns out to be a prominent female figure with conscience. She realizes her fault and in order to escape her guilt feel, she breaks off her relationship with Inder. Inder is the most weak character of the film.

He could never take the decision of going back to Pooja when Kavita was with him but he went back to Pooja after Kavita rejected him. Inder is always in need of a female support but Pooja was not in need of a passive male support like Inder. None of the relations turned out well. At the end of the film, all the characters remained single but free from insecurity. Arth harps on the theme of no use of continuing a false marriage.

Arth means "meaning" and no relation can thrive on meaningless ties. You need to love the person in order to stay with him or her. Mahesh Bhatt has dealt this sensitive issue in a very professional manner in Arth but the film does not suggest any solution to the problem. The solution cannot be prescribed. It is up to the audience to choose one of the extremes, a false marriage or a single life. Any passionate Bollywood fan should watch this movie for the brilliant performances of the two leading female actresses, Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi trapped in the curse of marital infidelity. The movie is based on Mahesh Bhatt's real life experiences. The script of the movie is bit weak but you would love the sings composed by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. The viewers are left with an urge for a sense of completion even at the end of the movie.