Arth (the Meaning)

Recently, I watched the movie, Arth (the Meaning). Arth star cast includes Shabana Azmi, Smitha Patil, Rohini Hattangadi, Kulbhushan Karbanda and Raj Kiran. This movie was made by Mahesh Bhatt in his early years of career as director, when he was still fresh and long before bitten by commercial bee.

Arth plot revolves around Shabana Azmi. Shabana, brought up in an orphanage, wife of struggling and innovative creative director Kulbhushan, is fed up with her husband’s unsettling attitude at work, which forces them to change places frequently, which shatters her dream of owning a HOME, which means world to her. Finally one day Kulbhushan surprises her with gifting a new home that has been bought under her name. She leaps to heavens with joy and keeps herself busy decorating her sweet home while her husband is away, busy with work in Goa, for weeks. In the process, she hires a new house maid (Rohani Hattangadi), who is married and has a daughter. Maid’s husband, a drunkard and womanizer is in the lure of another woman, quits his job and spends the money made by his wife, maid. But she never even thinks of revolting, instead she obeys this as her ill-fate, but she aspires to send her daughter to school and make independent. Shabana’s opinions are not same about her maid’s situation but she keeps it to herself.

In Goa, Kulbhushan is seen with his love, an established and yet insecured actress, Smitha Patil. Smitha founds comfort and security in the lap of Kulbhushan. She forces him to reveal the secret to his wife and move with her otherwise, she herself will reveal the secret to her. In an unavoidable situation he reveals the secret to Shabana, who grows speechless to learn the fact, and he abandons HOME. In the later part, Shabana confronts the couple Kulbhushan and Smitha. In the mere angst and frustrations, along with intoxication, lashes out at both, calling Smitha, a ‘whore’. Then she was helped by Raj Kiran, an aspiring and struggling singer, to her home. Next morning, Shabana apologizes for her behavior to Kulbhushan and asks for a reason, what made him go away from her? What lacks in her that he found in Smitha? He never gives answer to that, but says, he loves both Shabana and Smitha, and it’s just that he loves Smitha more and hopes of living with her rest of his life. And in anger, he reveals that Shabana’s home was bought with the help of Smitha. Shabana leaves the home and lives in Women’s Working Hostel.

She finds job with the help of Raj Kiran, whom she bumps into in the waiting room of an office. He brings her smiles back with his even cheerful attitude and singing tantrum. Meanwhile, Smitha, grows more insecure of losing Kulbhushan after her confrontation with Shabana in a party. To satisfy herself and pacify her fears, she demands Kulbhushan to get divorce from Shabana. Kulbhushan to gain her smiles back, he asks to Shabana to accept the divorce. Shabana signs off the papers and she finds solace in the company Raj Kiran. Shabana’s maid comes in search of Shabana to her hostel and asks her to help her in admitting her daughter in school. She takes them to school and school board demands donation to take the little kid into school, for which maid agrees, even though its little expensive.

Meanwhile, Raj kiran hits the gold and establishes himself as singer and expresses his love for Shabana, which Shabana refuses to upfront. At her work Shabana has been requested by Smitha’s mother to come and assure Smitha of her divorce as she is ruining herself with fear of losing him. Shabana, with no options left, arrive’s at Smitha and explains that she left him for good and she would never want him back and leaves. That confrontation helps Smitha only to realize that she will never found that assurance in his compay and he might leave her for the sake someone else. So she decides not to marry him and asks Kulbhushan to leave the house. Here Shabana gets a call from police, that her maid was arrested as she killed her husband who stole her money that had been saved her daughter’s upbringing. When Shabana meets maid, she never expresses her regret for killing her husband but she is worried about her daughter’s future. Shabana putsforth her interest of taking care of her daughter. Abandoned by Smitha, a remorseful and disheartened Kulbhushan comes back to Shabana in search of shelter. Shabana expresses her concern on the whole situation but never accepts to take him back.

In the end, she explains Raj Kiran, life is not supposed to end just because relationships end. Life always in search meaning finds new ways to live and cherish each and every moment and Shabana, she found her meaning in the company of her maid’s daughter and she found a new goal in upbringing of her.

The solution to this movie is it opt or not, is not a matter to discuss, I think. There is no standard solution to this kind of problems and this is a typical problem of Indian society, of which some cases never see the light. The ending could have been different if director wanted, but he thought it would be opt to have an ending like this. So it all depends on the director who makes the movie, how to end. In one scene Shabana asks for reason why Kulbhushan abandoned her. I think there shouldn’t be a reason for one to abandon one;s spouse in this kind of situations. Love is a human emotion, a feeling, free from logics and formulae. Having reasons will only degrade a person to the depth of agony and embarrassment.

To sum up, it was a nice movie, nice plot and great performances by the entire star cast.