Long before feminism became mainstream, Mahesh Bhatt delivered this classic take on extra marital relationships.

Arth is the story of Pooja who is married and ambitious film director Inder. Inder is having an affair with Kavita, a famous albeit neurotic actress.

Inder decides to leave Pooja to settle down with Kavita and this suddenly has Pooja embarking on a journey to find herself.

The subject is deftly handled by Bhatt and is elucidated by the souls stirring compositions of Jagjit and Chitra Singh.

Yes, this was the time when songs were an integral part of the movie and lyrics actually carried meaning and were as per the situation.

“dil-e-barabaad se niklaa naheen, ab tak koi

Ik loote ghar pe diyaa karataa hai, dastak koi”

The beauty of this movie is that even though the entire situation is created by the infidelity of the husband, it is resolved by the two women.

Shabana Azmi outshines herself as Pooja, especially towards the end as she realises the “Arth” of her identity and seeks no one to validate herself.

Smita Patil as the borderline schizophrenic Kavita has given a performance which will be remembered.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda has portrayed Inder perfectly as someone you would love to hate.

Of the support cast, Raj Kiran is vibrant and lights up the screen with his smile (wonder why he didn’t get more movies).

And Rohini Hattangadi has done a fabulous job as the housemaid who casually dismisses her husband beating her regularly as “He is my husband, he will beat me” but takes the matters in her own hands when it comes to the future of her daughter.

Despite being made in 1982 Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth remains relevant even today and ofcourse the songs are timeless melodies.

“Rekhaon ka khel hai muqaddar

Rekhaon se maat khaa rahi ho”

#DaMoRating: 9/10

Disclaimer: 1 point has been cut because I tried singing the songs pretending to be Jagjit Singh and a voice shouted from the heaven saying “Buss kar saale kyu maar raha hai mere gaane ki”. And this upset me 😤