Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh has passed away. The world of Ghazals and Shaayari is mourning the sad demise of the one and only Jagjit Singh. Ghazal singing has never been a profession for him. He always took it as the worship of the Lord. His soulmate Chitra stopped singing after the demise of their the only son - Vivek in an accident in 1993 but Jagjit did not stop it. Can a devotee stop worshipping the Almighty in any condition ? No. Hence Jagjit Singh continued, suppressing and trying to forget the grief in his heart.
Jagjit Singh always sung from the heart. And he always chose Ghazals and Nazms of very high literary quality for singing. That’s how he became instrumental in popularizing Ghazals as a form of light music. He sang for Bollywood movies too. The Ghazal, Nazm and songs of Saath Saath (1982) and the immortal love song - Hothon Se Chhoo Lo Tum (Prem Geet - 1981) are a few illustrations. However Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth (1982) is different in the sense that Jagjit Singh not only sang the Ghazals and Nazms but he only composed their music also. The music director of Arth is none other than Jagjit Singh himself. Though he had composed the music of Prem Geet also, Arth is his unique contribution to Bollywood music because in addition to composing the music, he and his soulmate Chitra sang all the Ghazals and Nazms included in the movie and all are invaluable gems for the lovers of music and Shaayari. I pay my tribute to him through review of this movie which was considered quite bold at the time of its release.
Arth (meaning) is the story of extra-marital relationship of Inder (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) and Kavita (Smita Patil). Inder is married to Pooja (Shabaana Azmi). Inder leaves Pooja for the sake of mentally insecure and unstable Kavita but finally Kavita also discards him. Pooja is heartbroken whom Raj (Raj Kiran) tries to console through his love for her. However Pooja decides to search an identity for herself in the world, independent of the support of any male.
Mahesh Bhatt used to direct average movies prior to Arth (Manzilen Aur Bhi Hain, Lahu Ke Do Rang, Vishwasghaat etc.). Arth was a milestone in his directorial career after which he never looked back. He always blew the trumpet that Arth was inspired by his own life-story (Parveen Babi being the abnormal other woman in his life). Whether it has anything to do with his life or not, Arth is an admirable movie. A good story was taken and the climax made the announcement of the true woman-lib, i.e., liberation from the shackles of dependence on men.
Arth boasts of power-packed performances of all the three principal actors - Shabaana Aazmi, Smita Patil and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. I won’t try to show lamp to the sun by saying anything about the leading ladies who were the pillars of the parallel cinema movement of the seventies and the eighties. However I say about Kulbhushan Kharbanda that it is definitely one of the best ever performances of this underrated actor.
RATING: 4/5
YOU CAN READ THE DETAILED REVIEW ON MOUTHSHUT.COM
NOTE : THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN BY A MOUTHSHUT MEMBER JMATHUR ON MOUTHSHUT.COM
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