I am mortally afraid of works of art which are proclaimed as classics by critics and the public. My bullshit antenna goes up and I end up avoiding such mainstream crap most of the time.

The name of the file which I downloaded from the net was "Arth- A Mahesh Bhatt Classic". The nomenclature got my hackles up and I was all ready to tear this apart with my words. I wasn't prepared for the emotions which were about to be unleashed by this cinematic piece of art.

This is a semi autobiographical movie. Mahesh Bhatt casts Kulbushan Kharbanda as himself, a director of advertisements and movies, who falls in love with an actress. Smita Patil plays the role of Parveen Babi. He decides to move in with the actress and leave behind his wife, essayed here by Shabana Azmi.

The dialogues ring true. It seems as if Mr. Bhatt had a small recording device with him when he was having huge rows with his wife and mistress. The direction is excellent. Mr. Bhatt never allows the drama to go over the top and become mawkish. He has a feel for the feminine mentality and the women characters come across as strong and not cardboard caricatures.

The music was composed by the late Jagjeet Singh and the songs include "Tum itna jo... ', lines which have since become immortal.

The acting is the strongest forte of this seminal classic. Azmi gives the performance of a life time as a woman who sees her world go up in smoke. She is vulnerable,teary eyed and then graceful.

This is a must watch for lovers of great drama. You would be blown away by what has increasingly become a rarity these days, an ultimate Hindi movie.