CHANGING TIMES OF CINEMA

Shabana Azmi talks about her journey, says there was no script in place for the iconic film Arth

Shooting for Arth was an ad hoc process, says veteran actor Shabana Azmi, who revealed that director Mahesh Bhatt didn't have a script ready for the 1982 acclaimed relationship drama.

The movie revolved 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. "He (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."