Umbartha

Umbartha (IPA:Umbaraṭhā) (Marathi: उंबरठा; English: Threshold) is a 1982 Marathi film produced by D. V. Rao and directed and coproduced by Dr. Jabbar Patel. The film is a story of a woman's dream to step outside her four walled home and bring change in the society. Smita Patil 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 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" (translation: Homeless) by Shanta Nisal and was also simultaneously made in Hindi as Subah with the same cast.

Plot

Sulabha Mahajan (played by Smita Patil) 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 (played by Girish Karnad) 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.