Ardh Satya (1983)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Govind Nihalani

Writers:

Dilip Chitre (poems)
Vasant Dev (dialogue)

Release Date:

19 August 1983 (India)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Om Puri	...	Sub-inspector Anant Velankar
Smita Patil	...	Jyotsna Gokhale
Amrish Puri	...	Anant's Father
Shafi Inamdar	...	Inspector Hyder Ali
Achyut Potdar	...	Inspector Patil
Sadashiv Amrapurkar	...	Rama Shetty
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Mike Lobo
Prabhakar Patankar
Rafique Mukadam
Madhuri Purandare
Shanta Gokhale
Ila Arun
Leela Jariwala
Arun Kakde
Suresh Bhagwat

Also Known As:

Half Truth

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Certification:

India:A

Filming Locations:

Rajkamal Studios, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Neo Films

Trivia:

The entire film was shot as per the script written by Vijay Tendulkar. But during the climax, Govind Nihalani somehow had a different vision than the writer. But Vijay Tendulkar was too senior a person and Govind Nihalani did not want to let him down. So Govind Nihalani shot two ends for the film - one that was written by Vijay Tendulkar in the script and other that was his own vision. He showed both versions to the writer and finally Vijay Tendulkar gave Govind Nihalani consent to retain his own ending.

Tries hard to rise above the poem

Any story comprises a premise, characters and conflict. Characters plotting their own play promises triumph, and a militant character readily lends oneself to this. Ardh Satya's premise is summarized by the poem of the same name scripted by Dilip Chitre. The line goes - "ek palde mein napunsaktha, doosre palde mein paurush, aur teek tarazu ke kaante par, ardh satya ?". A rough translation - "The delicate balance of right & wrong ( commonly seen on the busts of blind justice in the courts ) has powerlessness on one plate and prowess on another. Is the needle on the center a half-truth ? "

The poem is recited midway in the film by Smita Patil to Om Puri at a resturant. It makes a deep impact on the protagonist & lays the foundation for much of the later events that follow. At the end of the film, Om Puri ends up in exactly the same situation described so aptly in the poem.

The film tries mighty hard to do a one-up on the poem. However, Chitre's words are too powerful, and at best, the film matches up to the poem in every aspect.