Celebrating 25 years of SATYA - Indian Cinema's go to textbook on Gangster drama, also the Father film to the genre “Bombay Noir”
Back in July of 1998, the Hindi film industry experienced a unique phenomenon. An extremely underdog movie, the dark horse among all the releases of the month, came by at the theatres. The movie had a well known female lead actor, but the rest of the cast and crew was composed of a lot of new faces and new names. The only USP that the movie had was that it was a crime drama helmed by a new age director from Telugu cinema, who had broken into the industry with an impressive first film of the same genre (Shiva, 1990), and had also managed to successfully foray into mainstream Bollywood few years back (Rangeela, 1995). The movie had managed to garner acclaim especially from the critics upon it’s release. For it’s low budget and low expectations it did a decently good business at the Box Office, the word of mouth publicity by the audience was mighty strong. By the end of the year, this movie was counted among the best made movies of the year. However, all of these facts do not even sum up half of the impact this movie, Satya has had. Over the years it has had one of the greatest impact any Hindi movie has had on the industry and the audience. It singlehandedly launched a lot of talented people, many of whom have managed to make a big name for themselves over the years, it introduced a new genre, a new brand of cinema “Bombay Noir” which would accommodate many gangster drama, crime drama movies over the years, it would create such a massive influence, which to date is still very much evident in the industry. Almost every prominent crime movie from Hindi cinema which has come after Satya in one or many ways feels like it has borrowed something from it.
In a star obsessed, larger than life heroism obsessed industry, it always remains a big mystery how a movie with fresh faces and gritty realism has managed to work so well. This is one exceptional case where brilliant writing, exemplary direction, equally strong acting and natural, free flowing execution has managed to create a drama that is timeless.
As a popular trivia goes at the beginning of the movie, when protagonist Satya attacks one of his early oppressor Pakiya played by Sushant Singh, the way Sushant Singh reacted to the attack helped Ram Gopal Verma (RGV) determine the movie’s tone. It is amazing how well RGV was able to understand the tone and implement it throughout.
The world of the movie is unglamourous, very close to reality, gritty, but it’s also very badass. It affects more, projects less; much like it’s protagonist’s personality. Satya himself doesn’t look like he could do anything but is a major catalyst, a game changer to all the events, and other characters. It’s also very evident how Satya often slips to the background in majority of the scenes in his own movie, letting all the other characters, mostly Bhiku Mhatre come to the foreground and steal the thunder. RGV had spoken about this too. It was a very natural thing which occurred during the filming, the drama shaped itself in this particular way where all the other characters became very prominent and Satya just assumed a secondary identity. But all said and done J. D. Chakravarty was well utilized as Satya. His absolute understated portrayal of Satya absolutely added to the characterisation. It was a casting against type decision to cast Urimila Matondkar as Vidya, the love of Satya’s life. Vidya was to be a very simple girl next door and Urmila had by that time acquired a glamorous image, but she still came across very convincing for the part. In fact, the very evident fact of Vidya somehow always appearing to be above Satya’s league helped justify Satya’s extreme affection for her. Makarand Deshpande managed to project all the correct notes of the vicious advocate Mulay. The scene where an extremely drunk Mulay speaks to a much more drunk Kallu Mama, while the latter in his inebriation passes out is his character defining moment. Saurabh Shukla as Kallu Mama brought out a sense of likability towards him. His fluffy physique especially when he is dancing in the songs bring out the soft side of him, even though he projects a stern persona in his dramatic scenes. Saurabh Shukla’s alternating beard and clean shaven looks to stick out as a sore thumb in the movie’s continuity but can be forgiven. Snehil Dabi’s Chander is the typical wannabe character. He boasts his inclusion in the gang, feels ecstatic to hang around with the rest of the gangsters but himself contributes very little.
I feel among all the actors who’ve been so good in Satya, Govind Namdeo gets the least credit. Namdeo as Bhau rendered a layered portrayal. The scene where Bhau comes to bury the hatchet with Bhiku, there is a foreshadowing from the way Namdeo plays his part. Aditya Srivastava as Inspector Khanvilkar is fierce. In fact, in terms of plot, the amount of stuff Khanvilkar goes through, including tragically losing his mentor, he seems totally justified in gunning down Satya or in inciting hate in Vidya for him. The one actor I feel who did not get a role for his calibre was Paresh Rawal; his Amod Shukla character though important for the movie, had very little screentime.
Shefali Shah as Pyaari Mhatre is one of the most memorable characters. Her bitter sweet scenes with Bhiku stand out. Both Shefali Shah and Manoj Bajpayee are so natural in their roles, they seem every bit like a couple who have that kind of equation.
Finally coming to Manoj Bajpayee as Bhiku Mhatre, the most iconic character. Bhiku is the kind of guy who along with being a ganglord is also full of life. He has a cheerful presence, can get along with all kinds of misfits and can’t always be devoid of heart ( though he threatens to poke a knife into the eye of a rival gang hitman in the same movie). Bhiku has many shades to him and Bajpayee gets them all correct. As of today Bhiku Mhatre is one of the most iconic characters in Hindi cinema, and no one absolutely no one could have played him as good as Bajpayee did.
Coming to the writing, both Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla have created a grand world with a grand milieu. Care has been taken to not give the gangsters undue sympathy, even if they are highly humanized characters. They all ultimately get what they deserved. Saurabh Shukla once said how he wanted the characters of the underworld to interact with the law abiding world. He didn’t want the illegal world to look isolated from the rest of the society. That element is well incorporated.
Ultimately Satya would not have been Satya without RGV’s direction. It’s the kind of movie that makes the viewers aware of how masterfully skilful it’s director is. A director who bloody well is aware of all the resources he has and knows how to utilize them.
In the end I would say that Satya is more than a Masterpiece, it’s a movie worth studying. You can dissect it down scene by scene, to examine each and every aspect of it, You will still find brilliance. The far reaching influence it has had on Indian crime movies speaks for itself.