>Nicholas Michael Halim at 02:50, 19 April 2021

2021-04-19T02:50:48Z

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{{for|Religious TV channel|Aastha TV}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Aastha: In the Prison of Spring
| image = Astaa.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Basu Bhattacharya]]
| producer = Basu Bhattacharya
| writer = Basu Bhattacharya
| starring = [[Rekha]] [[Om Puri]] [[Dinesh Thakur]] [[Navin Nischol]] [[Daisy Irani (actress)|Daisy Irani]]
| music = Shaarang Dev '''Lyrics''': [[Gulzar]]
| cinematography = Khokon Bhaduri Dilip Ranjan Mukhopadhyay (also director of photography)
| editing = Shailesh Shetye
| distributor = Aarohi Film Makers
| released = 28 January 1997
| runtime = 132 minutes<ref>{{cite web|title=In the Prison of Spring - Aastha (1997)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/prison-spring-aastha-1997|website=[[BBFC]]|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref>
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Hindi]]
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Aastha: In the Prison of Spring''''' is a [[Bollywood films of 1997|1997]] [[Bollywood]] film, produced and directed by [[Basu Bhattacharya]].
The film stars [[Rekha]], [[Om Puri]], [[Navin Nischol]] and [[Daisy Irani (actress)|Daisy Irani]] in the main roles. The film went on to receive both critical acclaim and commercial success, the latter of which had eluded Basu in his last few films. Subsequently, spurred on by this success, Basu was even planning to remake the film in English, though he died in June 1997, at the age 62.<ref name=in>{{Cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970621/17250833.html|title=Basuda, auteur of "sensitive" films dies at 62|date=21 June 1997|work=[[Indian Express]]}}</ref> The film's success was described as blurring the gap between Indian art and commercial cinema, where art film makers, dealing with serious issues, used a musical format to make the film more commercially appealing, thus reaching a wider audience.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morcom|first=Anna |title=Hindi film songs and the cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfVdxiSm-aYC&q=%22Aastha%22+1997&pg=PA3|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-0-7546-5198-7}}</ref> Rekha received a nomination of 1997 [[Star Screen Award for Best Actress]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980109/00950494.html|title=And the nominees for 1997 are...|date=9 January 1998|work=Indian Express}}</ref>

In the movie, [[Rekha]] had the controversial role of a married woman who turns into a prostitute, which was severely criticized by the audience.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071012/cth4.htm|title=Bollywood's grand 'young' style diva|date=12 October 2007|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|access-date=24 July 2010}}</ref> About her role in the movie, Rekha said, "After 'Aastha: In the Prison of Spring' people had a lot to say about my role of a wife who moonlights as a prostitute. I don't have problems playing anything. I've reached a stage where I could do justice to any role that came my way. It could be role of a mother, a sister-in-law; negative, positive, sensational or anything."<ref name=congratcall>{{Cite web|url=http://bihartimes.com/news07/Oct/11ten6.html |title=At 53, Rekha is still Bollywood's style diva |access-date=2010-04-04 |date=2007-11-10 |publisher=[[Bihartimes.com]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212080348/http://bihartimes.com/news07/Oct/11ten6.html |archive-date=12 December 2007 }}</ref>

The movie is remarkable for its explicit love scenes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=3432|title=HOT STUFF: Charting body behaviour in Hindi cinema|last=Bhattacharya|first=Roshmila|date=25 April 2003|publisher=Screen|access-date=24 July 2010}}</ref>

==Plot summary==


Mansi ([[Rekha]]) and Amar ([[Om Puri]]) have been married for years, and have a daughter by this marriage. Amar is employed full-time, while Mansi looks after the household chores and their daughter. Amar earns a steady income, which enables the family to live comfortably, but they cannot afford to be extravagant at all. One day while buying shoes for her daughter, Mansi realizes that shoes are really expensive, and wants to leave the store without purchasing them. Another woman customer named Reena ([[Daisy Irani (actress)|Daisy Irani]]) offers to pay for the shoes, as she feels sorry for Mansi. Mansi reluctantly accepts Reena's offer to pay for the shoes, not realizing that Reena has paid for these shoes with a secret agenda that will open a new door in Mansi's life dragging her to prostitution to satisfy materialistic needs. Mr Dutt ([[Navin Nischol]]) and Mansi had love sex feeling her exciting.<ref name="mo">{{Cite book|last=Muthukumaraswamy|first=M. D. |author2=Molly Kaushal|title=Folklore, public sphere, and civil society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xsrgg1Mel8UC&q=aastha+rekha&pg=PA132|year=2004|publisher=National Folklore Support Centre (India) (NFSC)|isbn=81-901481-4-1|page=132}}</ref>

==Themes==
The film was seen as follow up of the noted [[trilogy]] Basu Bhattacharya made around marital discord in the 1970s, with ''[[Anubhav (1971 film)|Anubhav]]'' (1971), ''[[Avishkaar]]'' (1973) and ''[[Griha Pravesh]]'' (1979). Aastha turned out to be Basu's last movie, and is set again in the institution of marriage, although here Basu illustrates his response to the growing [[materialism]] in the 1990s and explores its impact on modern, urban marriage, as well as moral values.<ref name="tre"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of Hindi cinema|last=Gulzar |author-link=Gulzar |author2=[[Govind Nihalani]], Saibal Chatterjee |year=2003|publisher=(Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt. Ltd), Popular Prakashan|isbn=81-7991-066-0 |page=532 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8y8vN9A14nkC&q=Aastha+1997+film&pg=PT556 }}</ref> A bored and restless housewife, who has a young school-going daughter, awakens to her sexuality post mid-life, and in the process falls into the trap of [[prostitution]]. She wants material comforts ([[consumerism]]) and finds her professor husband's (Om Puri) income inadequate for it. She agrees to have a liaison with another man (Navin Nischol), in exchange for gifts and money, in the absence of her husband, who is shown as being highly principled. Though later, she is unable to reconcile with the new reality, as guilt and remorse regarding her choices, soon overshadow the joys of her few found comforts and sexual escapades.<ref name=in/><ref name="tre">{{Cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061112/spectrum/main4.htm|title=Straying spouses caught in reel|date=12 November 2006|work=The Tribune|access-date=24 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/fullstory.php?content_id=7068|title=Dangerous liaisons|last=Vaidyanathan|first=Dr PV|date=16 January 2004|publisher=[[Screen (magazine)|Screen]]}}</ref>

It remains one of few films in [[Bollywood]], which explore a woman's sexuality outside marriage,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Misra|first=Geetanjali |author2=Radhika Chandiramani|title=Sexuality, gender and rights: exploring theory and practice in South and Southeast Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sk4rnSt3YSQC&q=%22Aastha%22+1997&pg=PA73|year=2005|publisher=SAGE|isbn=0-7619-3403-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bombay-times/lovers-and-liars/articleshow/641250.cms|title=Lovers and Liars|date=27 April 2004|work=The Times of India}}</ref>

==Cast==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Actor/Actress !! Role
|-
|[[Rekha]]|| Mansi
|-
|[[Om Puri]]|| Amar
|-
|[[Dinesh Thakur]]|| Dinesh
|-
|Anwesha Bhattacharya|| Amita
|-
|[[Daisy Irani (actress)|Daisy Irani]]|| Reena
|-
|[[Navin Nischol]]|| Mr. Dutt
|-
|Shruti Patel|| Neeti
|}

==Soundtrack==
The soundtrack is composed by Shaarang Dev with the lyrics penned by [[Gulzar]].

{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| all_lyrics =
| all_music =
| collapsed =
| headline =
| writing_credits =
| lyrics_credits =
| music_credits =
| extra_column = Singers
| title1 = Jai Jai Naath
| note1 =
| lyrics1 =
| music1 =
| writer1 =
| extra1 = [[K. Ravi Shankar]]
| title2 = Labon Se Chumlo
| note2 =
| lyrics2 =
| music2 =
| writer2 =
| extra2 = Sriradha Banerjee
| title3 = Recitation
| note3 =
| lyrics3 =
| music3 =
| writer3 =
| extra3 = [[Gulzar]]
| title4 = Tum Tanana Tere Na
| note4 =
| lyrics4 =
| music4 =
| writer4 =
| extra4 =[[Sadhana Sargam]], [[Vinod Rathod]]
| title5 = Ye Raat Kunwari Hai
| note5 =
| lyrics5 =
| music5 =
| writer5 =
| extra5 = [[Vinod Rathod]]
| title6 = Tan Pe Lagti Kaanch Ki Boondein
| note6 =
| lyrics6 =
| music6 =
| writer6 =
| extra6 = Sriradha Bannerjee
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0229193}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aastha: In The Prison Of Spring}}
[[Category:1990s Hindi-language films]]
[[Category:Indian erotic drama films]]
[[Category:1997 films]]
[[Category:1990s erotic drama films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:Films about prostitution in India]]
[[Category:1997 drama films]]

Aastha: In the Prison of Spring - Revision history

>Nicholas Michael Halim at 02:50, 19 April 2021