Review: Arth - not my destination
The film struggled to find its own originality and was more of a drag than a story that you feel is being narrated organically. Photo: Promotional poster
Pakistan’s young cinema is struggling hard to make its way into the world of competitive international films, yet some movies do remind us that there is a lot that needs to be improved, keeping in mind that times have changed and so have the ways in which Pakistani viewers hold expectations from their local cinema.
After much anticipation, Arth – The Destination directed by Shaan was screened in Pakistan on December 21. Inspired by critically acclaimed three-decade-old story written and directed by Mahesh Butt, the original plot focused on a woman portrayed by Shabana Azmi and her journey in which she finds the real ‘Arth’ – purpose to her life, with some supporting characters and memorable songs by Jagjit Singh.
On the other hand, the Pakistani version focused more on Shaan’s character. The story line of the original 1982 film was simple, yet it captivated everyone with its scenes where everything fell in the background except the expressions of the actors.
However, sadly this was completely absent in this film where Shaan tried to turn it into something of a ‘masala’ movie instead of keeping it a simple drama. The most inspiring part of this Arth was the cinematography by Luke Rocheleau, which he achieved by setting scenes in some wonderful locations. Music was a good excuse in-between the scenes and the credit goes to music director Sahir Ali Bagga for his effort.
A promotional poster of Arth-The Destination. Photo: Shaan Shahid Twitter
Apart from Shaan’s character Ali who is a singer, whose portryal in the end felt like an exaggerated version of ‘me, me and only me’, the supporting characters included Mohib Mirza as Umer who is a film maker, Uzma Hassan as Umer’s wife who is a struggling writer and a very keen fan of Ali, and Humaima Malick who plays the role of a film star.
Uzma Hassan’s character had some very powerful scenes, which she played flawlessly. Some dialogues written for the character showed her strong will and elements of how she is tossing her life between being a wife and then a woman, who wishes to have something that is all of her own.
Mohib Mirza, who has played some memorable characters on big and small screen, has left no room to compromise on his character. Yet I felt that there was no justice done to his talent where he portrays a director who is more of a perfectionist, always in a frustrated state of mind.
As a first timer to watch Humaima on a big screen, she appears as strikingly beautiful. The role was written for her yet, she failed miserably to cash out what her character was going through. Instead, you see her most of the time bathing in a tub or in an awkward trying-too-hard intimate scene with Mirza’s character.
The film struggled to find its own originality and was more of a drag than a story that you feel is being narrated organically. The first issue was even though the story was inspired by Mahesh Butt’s film, it could not stand on its own to shine. Every remake leaves the fans to compare it with the original film. Arth – The Destination was just too long to keep the viewers engaged. Many people left in the middle of the intermission commenting that it was too easily predictable and too long to watch, and at times, youngsters were heard in the background mimicking mockingly the dialogues of Shaan and Humaima – all of which did appear a bit too much over the top.
Shaan on a promotional poster of Arth - The Destination. Photo: Shaan Shahid Instagram
Secondly, an idea of entertainment and a block buster is not necessarily meant to be dragged for three long hours.
What I could not fathom was the long routed useless dialogues that make you wonder what the character is trying to say. The most deplorable part was the use of strong explicit language without any warning or viewer rating at the beginning of the film. If the story was meant to have its own originality there was no need to show alcohol as an integral part of Pakistani social gatherings – something which it is not.
Shaan as a director has tried to accomplish something original but he ended up in a haywire of how to turn a drama into a commercial movie. This film might not be able to make its way into the hearts of the people as a reminder of the original Arth.
Arth – The Destination might soon be forgotten, without a perfect destination but for perfectly logical reasons.
