There was no script in place for ‘Arth’, says Shabana Azmi

Mumbai: 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.

"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’, he would say, ‘Artificial conflict is not allowed, we don’t have time, you better do it’,” Azmi said during a session at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival on Saturday.

From no public amenities to receiving their lines last minute, the 74-year-old actor said 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, we had no 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.

“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 we would hang on the sets, then you’ve been discussing and talking all kinds of things, besides there was no point of 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.

Azmi recalled that Rekha once said she can’t do a romantic song when it’s hot because she wouldn't be able to give a good take.

"Besides, nobody would give you your lines. It was a second or third assistant, who would blabber something,” she added.

While the times have changed, there are newer challenges that she faces today as an actor.

“It is important for me to stay relevant; I wouldn’t think of somebody who is resting on laurels. I need new challenges in life. Today, the green screen is a different experience for me because I’m reacting to nothing, and there’s so much imagination that I’m using. This is something that the younger people are doing very well, but I’ve kept at it,” said the actor, who completed 50 years in cinema recently.

Azmi also spoke about being in doubt about playing the character of a Bengali woman in Karan Johar's “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani”. In the 2023 film, she essayed Jamini Chatterjee, the maternal grandmother of Alia Bhatt's Rani.

“I had open hair on one side and I was wearing a silk saree and blouse, making machhi curry. I asked Karan, 'Which Bengali woman wears a silk sari and opens her hair,' and he said, ‘In Karan Johar’s film she does. Don’t ask any questions, and just go ahead’. I said, ‘Alright’. Even the way I was dressed it was completely different," she said.

The actor said she had thought about playing Jamini like acclaimed filmmaker-actor Aparna Sen.

"But he (Johar) said, ‘Trust me’, and I’m glad I did it because it worked. It was a completely different experience. Besides, when we did the song, ‘Abhi Naa Jao Chodkar’, I asked Karan, ‘Are you mad? People are going to walk out, and laugh’. When I went into the theatre, I saw people clapping and whistling. But it was fun.” Asked if she ever felt like quitting films, Azmi said she went on a brief hiatus because she felt she was becoming too “mechanical” with her craft.

“I don’t think I would ever like to quit acting or I thought of quitting acting but there was a period where I felt I needed to take a sabbatical because I was doing too much... I felt I was doing injustice to the profession. I took a sabbatical but I was back. I’ve realised in the past 50 years that it is acting that is giving me the greatest satisfaction.”