{{for|the TV series|Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}} {{Infobox film | name = Astitva | image = Astitva poster.jpg | alt = Theatrical release poster of the film Astitva | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Mahesh Manjrekar]] | producer = Rahul Sughand | writer = [[Imtiyaz Husain]]<br/>[[Mahesh Manjrekar]] | screenplay = Mahesh Manjrekar | story = Mahesh Manjrekar | based_on = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} --> | narrator = | starring = [[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]]<br/>[[Sachin Khedekar]]<br/>[[Mohnish Bahl]]<br/>[[Ravindra Mankani]]<br/>[[Smita Jaykar]]<br/>[[Sunil Barve]]<br/>[[Namrata Shirodkar]] | music = Rahul Ranade<br/>[[Sukhwinder Singh]] | cinematography = Vijay Kumar Arora | editing = V. N. Mayekar | studio = | distributor = | released = {{Film date|df=yes|2000|02|06|India}} | runtime = 109 Minutes | country = India | language = {{ubl|Marathi|Hindi}} | budget = | gross = [[Indian rupee|₹]] 2.16 [[crores]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Astitva Box Office Collection till Now {{!}} Box Collection |url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/astitva/box-office/ |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=Bollywood Hungama |date=6 October 2000 |language=en}}</ref> }} '''''Astitva''''' ({{Translation|Existence / Identity}}) is a 2000 Indian film made simultaneously in [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and [[Hindi]] languages, written and directed by [[Mahesh Manjrekar]]. The film tells the story of Aditi Pandit, a happily married woman whose husband Srikant Pandit becomes suspicious when she unexpectedly receives a fortune willed to her by her former music teacher, Malhar Kamat. Srikant tries to figure out why she had received the inheritance from Kamat, many years after the music classes had ended, and subsequently makes a discovery.
Astitva won the [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi]] for the year 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/focus/foyr2001/fomar2001/fo270320012b.html|title=48th National Film Awards}}</ref> Tabu's performance was highly acclaimed winning her several awards and is considered one of her best.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/film-review-astitva/article28048420.ece|title=Film Review: ''Astitva''|date=2000-10-13|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-06-25|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://in.bookmyshow.com/entertainment/movies/top-5-performances-by-tabu/|title=Top 5 Performances by Tabu|last=Singh|first=Shikha|date=2016-11-04|website=BookMyShow|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scoopwhoop.com/entertainment/tabu-greatest-actress-of-our-generation/|title=From 'Maachis' To 'Andhadhun', Here's Why Tabu Is One Of The Most Versatile Actors Of Our Time|website=www.scoopwhoop.com|date=October 2018 |access-date=2019-06-25}}</ref>
==Plot== {{Long plot|date=March 2021}} Astitva encompasses issues such as [[male chauvinism]], extramarital affairs, and spousal abuse. It is about a woman trying to find an identity outside her marriage.
It is 1997. Malhar Kamat ([[Mohnish Bahl]]), an old musician and music teacher, is dying. He prepares his [[Will and testament|will]] where he leaves his entire ''jaydad'' (estate) — comprising a ''haveli'' (mansion), {{convert|1.5|acre|m2}} of land, 1,400 grams of gold and approximately 860,000 rupees — to Aditi Shrikant Pandit ([[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]]). Upon his death two years later, the will is delivered to Aditi.
When the will reaches Aditi in Pune, she is in the midst of an impromptu party occasioned by the arrival of Dr. Ravi Bapat ([[Ravindra Mankani]]) and his wife Meghna ([[Smita Jaykar]]). Ravi is a very close friend of Aditi's husband, Shrikant Pandit ([[Sachin Khedekar]]). Aditi and Shrikant's only child, Aniket ([[Sunil Barve]]) introduces his fiancée, Revati ([[Namrata Shirodkar]]) to everyone at the party.
Shrikant opens the certified package that contains the will, even though it is addressed to Aditi, much to Meghna's chagrin and Ravi's surprise. Shrikant is intrigued and refers to his diaries from 25 years ago, in which he has chronicled events from his daily life. He realises that Aditi could not have possibly been pregnant from him at that time, because he was travelling on work. He shows her the diary, confronts her with the facts, and demands an explanation.
In a flashback, Shrikant is an up-and-coming star at a firm, seeking to break out on his own. His work keeps him traveling almost constantly. This leaves his newlywed wife Aditi lonely and frustrated.
When she asks him to let her work someplace (clearly to relieve her boredom and find a good use for her time), he takes it as an insult and rebuffs her saying no woman in his family has ever worked outside the home and that he earns enough for them to live comfortably. He suggests (although not very enthusiastically) that she take up music. The music teacher is Malhar Kamat. Shrikant continues his unending travels all over the world, although he makes it clear to Malhar that music will not be anything more than a hobby for Aditi.
Aditi's sister Sudha ([[Resham Tipnis]]) and her husband come to live with Aditi. Their constant lovemaking further deepens Aditi's feelings of yearning and abandonment. And one spring afternoon, as Malhar breaks into his new ''ghazal'' in the rain, Aditi's resolve is broken under the influence of the season. Malhar returns a couple of days later, and Aditi asks him to leave stating she loves only Shrikant. Aditi has missed a period. Sudha learns this and advises her to do something.
When Shrikant returns, Aditi breaks down and tries to tell him the truth about her pregnancy. But Shrikant is doubly elated, having won the first major contract for his own firm and, hearing of his imminent fatherhood, and breaks out into celebrations without letting Aditi complete her story.
As the story comes back to present time, Shrikant punishes Aditi by making her tell the truth in front of Aniket, Ravi and Meghna. Meghna loathes Shrikant, since she suffered spousal abuse from her drunkard husband before divorcing him and marrying Ravi. Aniket is disgusted with his mother after learning the truth of his paternity.
Ravi confronts Shrikant, reminding him of his many extramarital affairs. Shrikant refuses to accept it stating he is a man and he did not bring any children, born of those affairs, home.
Shrikant decides that he will live with Aditi, but any spousal relationship between them will not exist. After Revati learns the truth, she breaks off her engagement, not because of the truth, but because she realizes that Aniket is no different from the man he knew as his father.
Meghna decides to take Aditi to Goa with her, but Aditi declines. Before leaving the house, she demands her husband and son's presence to hear her. She states how her weakness is called sin, whereas Shrikant's weaknesses are accepted easily. She questions who has the authority to accept his weakness. Aditi also reveals to Shrikant that she has harboured another secret from him that he is impotent and that is why she was not able to bear any children with him; how could she have been labelled infertile if she didn't have a child. Revati reprimands Aniket stating he is alive as his mother didn't decide otherwise. The movie ends with Revati and Aditi walking out of the house and on the road, while Shrikant and Aniket stand in the doorway, watching them go.
The denouement captures the essence of ''astitva''.<ref>{{cite web |title=indiafm.com |date=13 August 2011 |url=http://www.indiafm.com/movies/cast/6526/index.html/}}</ref>
==Cast== *[[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]] as Aditi Pandit *[[Sachin Khedekar]] as Shrikant Pandit *[[Ravindra Mankani]] as Ravi *[[Smita Jaykar]] as Meghna *[[Mohnish Bahl]] as Malhar Kamat *[[Sunil Barve]] as Aniket Pandit *[[Namrata Shirodkar]] as Revathi *[[Gulfam Khan]] as Asma Parveen *[[Resham Tipnis]] as Sudha
==Production== The role of lead actress was first offered to [[Madhuri Dixit]], a leading lady of her times. When she rejected the offer, it went to Tabu, who received an important film of her acting career.<ref>{{cite web | title = Casting chronicle: One's miss is another's hit | date=5 May 2014 | publisher=India Today | url = https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/photo/casting-chronicle-2-states-baazigar-darr-munna-bhai-arjun-kapoor-imran-khan-372135-2014-05-05| access-date = 2014-05-05 }}</ref>
The story is based on [[Guy de Maupassant]]'s novel "[[Pierre and Jean]]", which was also made into a 1943 French film ''[[Pierre and Jean (film)|Pierre and Jean]]'', the [[Cinema of Mexico|Mexican]] movie ''[[Una mujer sin amor]]'', released in 1952 and into the 2015 American drama film ''[[Peter and John]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pierre and Jean (1943) |url=https://en.unifrance.org/movie/4073/pierre-and-jean# |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=en.unifrance.org |language=en}}</ref>
==Music== #"Chal Chal Mere Sang Sang" - [[Sukhwinder Singh]] #"Gaana Mere Bas Ki Baat Nahin" - [[Sadhana Sargam]], [[Shankar Mahadevan]] #"Gaana Mere Bas Ki Baat Nahin v2" - Sadhana Sargam, Shankar Mahadevan #"Kitne Kisse Hain Tere Mere" - [[Hema Sardesai]] #"Main Thi Main Hoon" - [[Kavita Krishnamurthy]] #"Sabse Pehle Sangeet Bana" - Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sukhwinder Singh #"Spirit Of Astitva" - N/A #"Zindagi Kya Baat Hai" - Sukhwinder Singh
== Accolades == {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |- ! scope="col"| Award{{efn|Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.}} ! scope="col"| Date of ceremony{{efn|Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.}} ! scope="col"| Category ! scope="col"| Recipient(s) ! scope="col"| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |- ! scope="row" rowspan="4"| [[Bollywood Movie Awards]] | rowspan="4"| 28 April 2001 | Best Story | {{sort|Manjrekar|[[Mahesh Manjrekar]]}} | {{nom}} | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"| <ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nominees and Winners for the Bollywood Awards 2001 were |url=http://www.bollywoodawards.com/ballot/ballot.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020407134036/http://www.bollywoodawards.com/ballot/ballot.html |archive-date=7 April 2002 |access-date=27 June 2021 |website=Bollywood Movie Awards}}</ref> |- | [[Bollywood Movie Award – Best Actress|Best Actress]] | rowspan="6"| {{sort|Tabu|[[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]]}} | {{nom}} |- | [[Bollywood Movie Award – Critics Award Female|Best Critics Role - Female]] | {{won}} |- | [[Bollywood Movie Award – Most Sensational Actress|Most Sensational Actress]] | {{won}} |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2"| [[Filmfare Awards]] | rowspan="2"| [[46th Filmfare Awards|17 February 2001]] | [[Filmfare Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] | {{nom}} | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite news|url=http://filmfare.indiatimes.com/ffawards/nominees.html |title=46th Filmfare Awards 2001 Nominations |work=[[Times Internet|Indian Times]] |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210102906/http://filmfare.indiatimes.com/ffawards/nominees.html |archive-date=10 February 2001 |agency=[[The Times Group]]}}</ref><br /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dhirad |first=Sandeep |date=2006 |title=Filmfare Nominees and Winners |url=https://sites.google.com/site/deep750/FilmfareAwards.pdf?attredirects=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019034032/https://sites.google.com/site/deep750/FilmfareAwards.pdf?attredirects=0 |archive-date=19 October 2015 |access-date=27 June 2021 |website=Filmfare |pages=107–109}}</ref> |- | [[Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress|Critics Award for Best Actress]] | {{won}} |- ! scope="row"| [[International Indian Film Academy Awards]] | [[2nd IIFA Awards|16 June 2001]] | [[IIFA Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] | {{nom}} | style="text-align:center;"| <ref>{{cite news|url=http://server1.msn.co.in/iifa/nominee/index.html |title=2nd IIFA Awards 2001 Nominations |work=[[MSN]] |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010826062906/http://server1.msn.co.in/iifa/nominee/index.html |archive-date=26 August 2001 |agency=[[Microsoft]]}}</ref> |- ! scope="row"| [[National Film Awards]] | [[48th National Film Awards| 12 December 2001]] | [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi|Best Feature Film in Marathi]] | Producer: {{sort|Sughand|[[Jhamu Sughand]]}}<br/>Director: {{sort|Manjrekar|[[Mahesh Manjrekar]]}} | {{won}} | style="text-align:center;"| <ref>{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/69_48thNfacatalogue.pdf |title=48th National Film Awards |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725232402/http://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/69_48thNfacatalogue.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="6"| [[Screen Awards]] | rowspan="6"| 20 January 2001 | [[Screen Award for Best Film|Best Film]] | ''Astitva'' | {{nom}} | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="6"| <ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.screenindia.com/svawards/winom.htm |title=Nominations for 7th Annual Screen Awards are |date=2001 |work=[[Screen (magazine)|Screen]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040219220635/http://www.screenindia.com/svawards/winom.htm |archive-date=19 February 2004 |access-date=27 June 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20010122/ien22062.html |title=Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai all the way, bags 8 trophies |last=Express News Service |date=21 January 2001 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |location=Mumbai, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040224140257/http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20010122/ien22062.html |archive-date=24 February 2004 |access-date=27 June 2021 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.screenindia.com/screenawards/award00.html |title=Screen Award winners for the year 2000 are |work=[[Screen (magazine)|Screen India]] |access-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031029003354/http://www.screenindia.com/screenawards/award00.html |archive-date=29 October 2003 |agency=[[Indian Express Limited]]}}</ref> |- | [[Screen Award for Best Story|Best Story]] | rowspan="3"| {{sort|Manjrekar|[[Mahesh Manjrekar]]}} | {{won}} |- | [[Screen Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]] | {{nom}} |- | [[Screen Award Special Jury Award|Special Jury Award]]{{efn| also for ''[[Nidaan]]''}} | {{won}} |- | [[Screen Award for Best Dialogue|Best Dialogue]] | {{sort|Husain|[[Imtiyaz Husain]]}} | {{nom}} |- | [[Screen Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] | rowspan="2"| {{sort|Tabu|[[Tabu (actress)|Tabu]]}} | {{won}} |- ! scope="row"| [[Zee Cine Awards]] | 3 March 2001 | [[Zee Cine Award for Best Actor – Female|Best Actor – Female]] | {{won}} | style="text-align:center;"| <ref>{{Cite episode |title=Zee Cine Awards 2001 |series=Zee Cine Awards |network=[[Zee Entertainment Enterprises]] |date=3 March 2001}}</ref> |- |}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0261545|Astitva}} *[https://books.google.com/books?id=7cgyAAAAIBAJ&dq=vijiyan+review+new+straits+times&pg=PA37&article_id=3735,404348 ''New Straits Times'' review]
{{Mahesh Manjrekar}} {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Marathi}} {{Pierre and Jean}}
[[Category:2000 films]] [[Category:2000 drama films]] [[Category:2000 multilingual films]] [[Category:2000s feminist films]] [[Category:2000 Indian films]] [[Category:2000 Hindi-language films]] [[Category:2000s Marathi-language films]] [[Category:Best Marathi Feature Film National Film Award winners]] [[Category:Films about adultery in India]] [[Category:Films about domestic violence]] [[Category:Films about families]] [[Category:Films about friendship]] [[Category:Films about marriage]] [[Category:Films about music and musicians]] [[Category:Films about scandalous teacher–student relationships]] [[Category:Films about women in India]] [[Category:Films based on Pierre and Jean]] [[Category:Films set in 1997]] [[Category:Films set in 1999]] [[Category:Films set in Pune]] [[Category:Films shot in Pune]] [[Category:Hindi-language drama films]] [[Category:Indian drama films]] [[Category:Indian feminist films]] [[Category:Indian multilingual films]] [[Category:Indian musical drama films]] [[Category:Indian psychological drama films]]