Reviews & Ratings for
अर्थ (1982)

Pooja (Shabana Azmi) is a typical housewife, who dreams of a home of her own. Her filmmaker husband Inder (Kulbhushan Karbanda) is unable to provide her with the same, due to financial crisis. But one find day, he does, and she is delighted. She starts decorating her home with furniture and every other accessory. Meanwhile, Inder is away on a shoot. And that's when we discover that he has an extramarital affair with this established actress Kavita (Smita Patil).
Blissfully unaware of this, Pooja appoints a maid for household chores. So blind is Pooja in her faith in her husband, that it is heartbreaking. When the maid, always accompanied by her little daughter, describes her husband as a drunkard, she suggests that she would never tolerate her husband, were she in her place. In some days, she discovers that she is almost in her place. Inder confronts Pooja, and tells her that their relationship should end here, as he is serious about Kavita. The scene in this movie where Pooja, on seeing Inder and Kavita together at a party, gets drunk and rants boldly, is sure to force you out of every comfort zone and denial you may have ever built around you. When Pooja finds out that it is with Kavita's help that Inder has bought their home, she leaves the house and moves in to a hostel.
Pooja finds a friend and anchor in the form of Raj (Raj Kiran), an aspiring singer. He tries convincing Pooja by suggesting that she cannot spend all her life brooding about what has already happened.
Kavita, we discover, often experiences meltdowns due to schizophrenia. And Inder is often torn between the two women, since Kavita often hallucinates about Inder's frequent interactions with his wife.

So, traditionally, a woman's role in an Indian society is one where she accepts her husband unconditionally, every time he strays, whereas a woman is not only shunned by her husband, but also isolated and disgraced by the entire society if she is unfaithful to him.

Arth dares to shatter this norm.

And it leaves you spellbound. Speechless. May be even shocked, and shaken out of your comfort zone. But isn't that what art does? The purpose of art is to defamiliarise one from what is familiar and comfortable, and lead one to meet the bitter truths in the eye. And Arth does exactly that by portraying a confident Pooja meeting the eyes of her husband, and asking him whether he would accept her had she committed the same mistake. This is not your typical 'other woman' drama. Mahesh Bhatt ensures that it isn't.

Shabana Azmi easily becomes a role-model for every woman through this movie. Her eyes emote so much, that one can feel every word, every thought and emotion till the deepest core of one's heart. Smita Patil is pathbreaking in her role as a woman suffering from Schizophrenia (probably one of the few such roles at that time). The two leading ladies of parallel cinema in one frame is a delight to watch. Kulbhushan Karbanda is also fantastic as Inder, portraying every nuance beautifully. Raj Kiran is simply adorable, and sadly, very underrated.
All in all, this movie is a must, must, must watch. Enjoy the movie and question some faulty patterns.