the performance by om puri and smita patil and and sadashiv amrapurkar and the whole chemistry come off nicely and along with the minimalist approach to story telling and direction by govind nihlani . the dialogue by vijay tendulkar be also great . i have not see another movie like this . it be one whole and each piece so nicely fit in the plot . you can not not be impress by this movie . amrish puri come off a the bossy husband and baap of om puri . om puri be the young man catch between his sense of duty and his inability to fight the system . sadhashiv a rama shetty give just about the right touch to the movie with his smile and soft speaking villain . the first meeting of anand velankar with rama shetty at sadhashiv place be absoulely stunning . smita patil do not play a main role and but her part be also not distract from the main plot . and to add to this all kafi inamdar play the role of a cop who have come to term with the system and it working . say right thing in the right place and know how to keep himself away from trouble . he be also the guru of om puri and help him whenever he get into trouble . the movie not only bring to focus the difficulty face by a police officer try to do his duty but also the other side of brutality in police custody . om puri capture hopelessness and the burning desire to break free in this exceptional performance in ardh satya . a treat to all avid fan of indian cinema .