All Talk and No Action

I had been wanting to watch Arth ever since I learnt what 'the other woman' meant. This story of "the other woman" has garnered enough attention and debate in the past two decades.

Arth deals with a much married couple, happy with life and it's everyday chores, until, the husband professes his love for another woman. All his assurances of always "being there" for his wife as a friend, are insufficient to bring back her broken spirit.

How the wife then finds arth in her being and whether a man/woman can find solace without being bound in the comforts of a relationship is what the movie is about.

I wouldn't do a post mortem of the story since I hate to give in too many details while reviewing a movie.

But, I must mention that Shabana Azmi has never looked as beautiful as she has in Arth.

Apart from a fine performance, the lady looks dazzling, even sans make up !

Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Raj Kiran do justice to their limited and sometimes, half baked roles.

Jagjit and Chitra Singh do a wonderful job with the three songs that they are allowed.

My only grouse with the story is that "the other woman" is shown to be mentally ill and insecure. This is so, maybe, to arouse sympathy in the viewer and allow her a reason for this woman's actions.

Frankly, had I made Arth, I would have shown this woman to be normal and happy, just like the rest of us. Why do we want to think that anybody who wrecks someone elses marriage ought to feel compunction ? Haven't we met people, who live life on their own terms, however way ward it may seem to us ?

But, maybe the moral fabric of the early eighties did not allow this privilege to Bhatt.

Some ageless questions that Arth raises -

• Would and should you continue with a love-less marriage, only because you are burdened with an emotionally dependant partner ?
• Will and can there be an end to the roving eye of a partner ? Can an erring husband/wife really remain fidel and be in love forever with a single person ? Can you be sure that they won't leave the second partner for a third, more exciting one ?
• If the tables are turned, will the erring partner, be magnanimous enough to forgive and forget and re-build a relationship ?
• Is it necessary to be in a relationship at all to complete oneself ?