Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil defined Alternate or Parallel cinema in 70s and 80s. Among many brilliant movies they have featured, Govind Nihalani’s Ardh Satya stands out as iconic feature. Over the time, Ardh Satya has evolved as greatest example of rebellion against mainstream clichés and traditions. This list cannot be complete without Ardh Satya.
Based on Vijay Tendulkar’s play Surya, movie depicts life a police officer Anant who is trying to remain in the system without compromising his values. Torn between his past where a dominating father left scars and an equally traumatic present where he is been roughed up for being true. Self-nihilistic, Anant goes on to ruin everything by not complying with the standard norms. As everything fades away, love of his life recedes away as well.
Ardh Satya redefined story telling. Cops were self-righteous in past as well but they hardly felt impotent on screen. It was such a taboo. A similar moment was there in Zanjeer as well but it was overshadowed by Amitabh’s machoism. This weakness was rarely explored as in detail as done in Ardh Satya. Something that was attempted many times but achieved rarely.
Trivia: Amitabh Bachchan was the first choice. He was ruling the industry and had no time in hand. The role went to Om Puri and he made most of it. Amitabh later worked with Nihalani in Dev where he played role of a cop.
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