''Umbartha'' ( IPA: Umbaraṭhā; ) is a 1982 Indian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced by D. V. Rao and directed and coproduced by

Jabbar Patel Dr. Jabbar Patel (born 23 June 1942) is a former paediatrician and a Marathi-language theatre and film director of India. His production of Vijay Tendulkar's play Ghashiram Kotwal, in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian Theatre. ...

. The film was simultaneously shot in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, the latter titled ''Subah'', with the same cast. It tells the story of a woman's dream to step outside her four walled home and bring change in the society.

Smita Patil Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi films. Regarded among the greatest and finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her ...

played the lead protagonist in the film for which she won ''Marathi Rajya Chitrapat Puraskar'' for Best Actress. The film was adjudged as the Best Feature Film in Marathi at the

29th National Film Awards The 29th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1981. Ceremony took place in Apr ...

for "a sincere cinematic statement on the theme of a woman seeking to establish her identity by pursuing a career, even at the risk of alienation from her family". The film is based on a Marathi novel ''Beghar'' () by Shanta Nisal. This film also tells the social issues on

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

in 80s.

Plot

Sulabha Mahajan is a woman who dreams to step out of the four walls of the house, assume greater responsibility as a citizen and play an important role in shaping the society. She has passion to do something constructive for the abused, assaulted, neglected and traumatized womenfolk of the society she lives in. She gets a job offer as Superintendent of a Women's Reformatory Home in a remote town of Sangamwadi. The job offer raises objections from her lawyer husband Subhash and conservative mother-in-law who refuse to understand her need to move to the town and work for rehabilitation of the women. But her sister-in-law supports her by offering help in looking after her young daughter Rani. Determined Sulabha then goes ahead with her dream job. She meets various challenges in her new endeavor. She starts with bringing discipline in the Home and also discovers frauds that take place there. But she is not helped by the managing committee which is filled with selfish and careless people. She hence decides to take steps against their sanction. She starts some classes to educate willing women and also marries off one of the inmates in order to give a new start to her life. She discovers how a local MLA Bane has been regularly using the inmates of the home to satisfy his sexual needs. Two of the inmates decide to run away but are forcefully brought back to the home. They both commit suicide by burning themselves. Sulabha is then questioned by committee and newspapers for her improper control on the home. An administrative enquiry is set up against her. It is then that she decides to resign and give up all her work and return home. When she returns to her home she is happily welcomed by her sister-in-law but not so much by her daughter and mother-in-law. She then discovers that her husband Subhash has been involved with another woman in her absence. His betrayal changes her mind and she again sets off to follow her dream work.

Cast

as Sulabha Mahajan *

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, Kannada writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwr ...

as Advocate Subhash Mahajan * Shrikant Moghe as Dr. Mohan Mahajan (Subhash's elder brother) *

Ashalata Wabgaonkar Ashalata Wabgaonkar (2 July 1941 – 22 September 2020), better known as Ashalata, was an Indian actress. Originally tracing her roots to Palolem, Goa, she was associated with the Mumbai-based Goa Hindu Association. She acted in over a hundre ...

as Maya Mahajan (Mohan's wife) * Kusum Kulkarni as Mrs. Mahajan (Sulabha's mother-in-law) * Pournima Ganu (Manohar) as Rani * Radha Karnad as young Rani * Satish Alekar as Walimbe (principal) * Mukund Chitale as Gate-man * Surekha Divakar as Farida * Daya Dongre as Chairman Sheela Samson * Ravi Patwardhan as MLA Bane * Vijay Joshi as Peon * Jayamala Kale as Sugandha * Sandhya Kale as Heera, Clerk / Typist * Swaroopa Khopkar as Utpala Joshi * Manorama Wagle as Kamalabai

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film is composed by

Hridaynath Mangeshkar Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar (Marathi pronunciation: �ɾud̪əjnaːt̪ʰ məŋɡeːʃkəɾ born 26 October 1937) is an Indian music director and occasional singer. He is the only son of musician Deenanath Mangeshkar and younger brother of ...

on lyrics written by Vasant Bapat and

Suresh Bhat Suresh Bhat (15 April 1932 – 14 March 2003) was a Marathi poet from the state of Maharashtra, India. Personal life Bhat was born in a Karhade Brahmin family in Amravati, Maharashtra to Shridhar Bhat, a physician. His mother was fond of po ...

. All songs are sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

, except "Ganjalya Othas Majhya" which is sung by

Ravindra Sathe Ravindra Sathe (born 7 February 1951) is an Indian playback singer in Marathi film industry. He was the original cast and crew member of famous Marathi theatre play '' Ghashiram Kotwal''. He had been awarded Maharashtra State Film Award for ...

. "Sunya Sunya Maifilit Majhya" became the most popular song that time.

Awards

* 1982 –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi The National Film Award for Best Marathi Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Ka ...

* 1982 –

Maharashtra State Film Awards Maharashtra State Film Awards, one of the prestigious awards of Marathi cinema, are awarded by the Government of Maharashtra to Marathi language films and artists. They were first awarded in 1963. The Maharashtra State Film Awards are adjudicat ...

– Best Film * 1982 –

–

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

–

* 1982 –

– Best Actress –

* 1981 -

Filmfare Awards Marathi The Filmfare Marathi Awards are presented annually to both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Marathi cinema, Marathi film industry of India. The ceremony had been sponsored by various private organisations in the pas ...

- Best Actress.

References

External links

* {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Marathi Films about women in India Indian LGBTQ-related films Lesbian-related films Women in prison films Indian prison films Films with screenplays by Vijay Tendulkar Best Marathi Feature Film National Film Award winners 1980s Marathi-language films Films based on Indian novels Films directed by Jabbar Patel Indian feminist films Films about the caste system in India Films about sexual harassment Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police Indian legal drama films Films set in Maharashtra 1982 LGBTQ-related films 1980s Hindi-language films Hindi-language drama films Marathi-language drama films