There was no script in place for ‘Arth’: Shabana Azmi
Mumbai: Shooting for ‘Arth’ was an ad hoc process, said veteran actor Shabana Azmi, who revealed that director Mahesh Bhatt didn’t have a script ready for the 1982 acclaimed relationship drama. The movie revolves around Inder, a filmmaker (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) involved in an extramarital affair with a successful actress, Kavita (Smita Patil) and deserts his wife Pooja (Azmi), who then embarks on a journey to find her true identity.
‘Arth’, which won Azmi the Best Actress National Award, is reportedly said to be a semi-autobiographical film about Bhatt’s extramarital relationship with Parveen Babi.
“Bhatt was going through a personal crisis. We didn’t have a script. We had a story idea and as we were shooting it went along, it was all very ad hoc. I would wear my clothes and turn up on sets. But there was something inside him. It was like he would press a button and immediately I would start, the experience was amazing. For instance, if he would give me a difficult scene to do and expected me to do it right away, I would say, ‘I can’t do it’ and he would say, ‘Artificial conflict is not allowed. We don’t have time. You better do it’,” Azmi said during a recent session at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
From no public amenities to receiving their lines last minute, the 74-year-old actor said that female actors faced many challenges back in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Look at the transition that we’ve made. There was a time when we had no vanity vans and bathrooms on the sets. If you wanted to relieve yourself, your hairdresser would hold a saree for you and she would say, ‘Don’t look here’ but still that would make everyone curious. A vanity van is a comfortable thing, but it has taken away the joy of comradeship that used to exist because we had no place to go so that we would hang on sets. Then you’ve been discussing and talking about all kinds of things. There was no point in having AC or big fans because your hair (wig) would come out, so you are sweating from one side and you’ve to do a romantic song,” she added.
