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No doubt, Indian filmmakers have made countless movies about the anguish faced by an upright police officer in the face of corruption and dishonesty prevalent in society. And yet, Govind Nihalani's Ardh Satya starring Om Puri and the late Smita Patil remains one of the finest efforts in Indian cinema.
Ardh Satya, meaning 'half truths' revolves around the life of Anant Velankar, a sensitive young man who gets pushed into police service by his bully of a father (Amrish Puri), who comes from a family of policemen and rules his house with an iron fist. However, even as he joins up for service, Velankar is thrust into the big, bad world where favours are exchanged and crimes are committed with nary a thought about the consequences.
Even as he battles enemies within and without the police department that he serves, Velankar finds a kindred spirit in Jyotsana Gokhale (Smita Patil), a college professor, apart from a worthy adversary in Rama Shetty (Sadashiv Amrapurkar), a local goon with political aspirations.
The sensitive Velankar gets disillusioned with the system every passing day and seeks solace in alcohol, much to the consternation of Jyotsana, who advices him to leave the police force, but without success.
Matters finally reach a boiling point when Velankar is not appreciated for his efforts in nabbing a dreaded bank robber and the frustrated cop vents his frustration on a theft accused in the police lock-up, killing him in the process. A sympathetic but street-smart senior Haider Ali (Shafi Inamdar) advises him to seek the help of none other than Shetty, a politician by now, for bailing him out of trouble and his pride swallowed, Velankar goes to Shetty, ready to pay money for the assistance.
However, when Shetty demands that Velankar repay the service by being in the former's service, Velankar loses his temper and ends up strangling Shetty to death before surrendering himself to the police.
Om Puri's Velankar, unlike other upright cops of the silver screen is a fallible person, strong enough to stand up to the might of Shetty and yet agreeing to seek the help of a political fixer to save his career in a moment of weakness. Puri's anguish at his 'impotence', as he calls it, which drives him to alcohol, is true and heart-rending and so is his helplessness at the domestic abuse he witnesses in his own house when his father beats up his mother at regular intervals.
One of the best scenes in the movie is where Puri finally shouts back at his drunk father and asserts his individuality, compelling the old patriarch to take a step back. The other scene, of course, being the one where Puri almost breaks down while reading the poem Ardh Satya that has been described time and again as one of the finest moments in world cinema.
Smita Patil as the supportive Jyotsana, who watches with concern as Puri hurtles on a downward spiral, is wonderful, as always, bringing a quiet dignity to her role of the intellectual professor. Sadashiv Amrapurkar, as the antagonist Rama Shetty, is certainly one of the attractions of the movie, disguising his villainy behind a cloak of polite respectability.
Shafi Inamdar as Haider Ali, Puri's senior official also puts in an honest performance as a cop, who though truthful, knows which side of his bread is buttered and advises Velankar in times of need, introducing an element of pragmatism as a foil to Velankar's idealism.
With a screenplay written by renowned playwright Vijay Tendulkar and directed by Govind Nihalani, Ardh Satya is one cinematic truth movie-goers ought to know.