New Delhi: Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has peeled back the curtain on the casting of Smita Patil in Arth (1982). The film owes much of its raw, emotional gravity to the late actress and her fearless decision to play the “other woman” — a role often shied away from back in the ’80s.

It was a quiet night at Film City. The crew of Tajurba was setting up for a late shoot. Mahesh recalls leaning against a car, the glow of the lights flickering to life. It was then that he narrated the story of Arth to Smita — a tale of three women, of broken hearts and breaking free. Shabana Azmi was already on board as the wife. He expected Smita to pick a safer, more socially acceptable part.

But she didn’t blink. “I’ll do it,” she told him. “But I’ll play the other woman.”

Mahesh Bhatt recalls Smita Patil’s Arth casting

Mahesh Bhatt handed her a cash envelope with Rs 20,000 — her signing amount. Smita looked at it and said, “I also get paid for this?” Then came the kicker: “Strange. Usually we pay a price for being this honest.”

The filmmaker calls that moment pure Smita. No fear. No filters. No concern about how the role might damage her image as a “heroine.” She wasn’t performing, he says — she was confessing.

“Smita didn’t play the role,” Mahesh adds. “She inhabited it. Not from a pedestal, but from inside the ache, the chaos, the loneliness.” This unguarded choice made her performance in Arth unforgettable and the film itself enduring. Her portrayal was courageous, coming from a place where masks fall and art begins.

About Arth

Arth (1982), directed by Mahesh Bhatt, is a seminal film in Hindi cinema that redefined the portrayal of women on screen. Loosely inspired by the filmmaker’s own life, the film explores the emotional complexities of marriage, infidelity, and self-discovery through the intertwined lives of three characters. At its heart is Pooja, played by Shabana Azmi, a devoted wife whose world shatters when her husband, a filmmaker, falls in love with another woman, portrayed with haunting vulnerability by Smita Patil.

What sets Arth apart is its unflinching honesty, rare for its time. It doesn’t seek to villainise or glorify but instead offers a deeply human perspective on love, betrayal, and the courage it takes to start over.