Astitva - Movie review || Impactful movies

Astitva meaning identity is one of many films that had created a deep impact on me, especially the climax, about which I would like to share in this article. The movie is a bilingual movie released in both Hindi and Marathi languages in the year 2000. Sachin Khedekar plays the male lead while the main lead is the female character played by Tabu. It also casts Mohnish Bahl, Sunil Barve, Namrata Shirodkar, etc. The movie is written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar.

The movie deals with the intensity of relationships and its pros and cons as created by the situations and circumstances. The synopsis of the movie is there lives a happy family consisting of a married couple with their son. A party is being celebrated on the occasion of the arrival of a family friend during which a courier comes in the name of the wife. The husband receives the courier and opens to find a will reading that the entire property of an old musician is transferred to the name of the wife.

This leaves everyone confused about the relationship between the wife and the old musician while the wife is stunned to see the will. The husband who is characterized as a male chauvinist which is visible as he opened his wife’s courier as a piece of example, is so frustrated and he ends up calculating the days of his wife’s pregnancy. Soon he realizes that he is not the biological father of his son makes him infuriated over his wife which is when she opens up her flashback.

It was 25 years before when the husband who is such a workaholic and travels often found no time to care for his wife. She was left all alone which made her feel lonely and depressed. The male-chauvinist husband does not like his wife going to a job so instead allowed her to pursue music as a hobby. A young musician visited their home to teach music to the wife. On a rainy day when both the wife and musicians were doomed in the mesmerism of music ends up making love with each other.

Soon both realized their mistake and when the musician comes on the next day, the wife does not allow him inside and ends their relation forever. After hearing this story everyone is shocked to know that the musician is the biological father of their son. The wife who lost her mental stability just for a single moment out of prolonged loneliness and negligence has suffered the truth for all these years silently. The husband who is also equally blameable for what has happened was not ready to take it instead decided to depart with his wife forever.

The main twist comes in the climax when the son himself was not ready to accept his mother’s accidental fault and started hating her. But the lover of the son who is to be the daughter-in-law of the house understands the feelings and pain underwent by her mother-in-law. She was ashamed of her lover who is no less chauvinistic than his legal father and breaks their engagement. The movie ends as she takes her mother-in-law to live with her.

The human emotions are beautifully narrated by the director and neatly portrays the scenario taking place in many houses of the society that are untold to the world. It does not mean that I support extramarital affairs but one thing should be understood that every extramarital affair is not adultery. Here the continuous negligence and ill-treatment of the husband pushed the wife to such a circumstance. One should understand that chastity is common to both men and women and more importantly it is a state of mind where one surrenders themselves for the love of the other. 

This dedication should be two way and happens only between relationships that are built upon trust and respect. What the wife has done is not right but she is not the only reason behind it. The husband is also equally responsible but which cannot be voiced out in a patriarchal society. The most beautifully narrated relationship is between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law which is usually seen as a quarreling relation but here it is portrayed like a beautiful painting which really created an impact on me. It is about the struggle of a woman who desperately tries to possess an identity of her own.


Disclaimer: Pictures are used only for reference. I do not own the copyrights.