25 years of 'Satya': Bullets over Bollywood

 

 

 

 

The critically acclaimed crime thriller 'Satya' , directed by Ram gopal varma turned 25 on july 3 2023. the film explored underbelly of mumbai's underworld and became a cult classic. 25 years ago, one indie film changed the landscape of Indian cinema forever. Made on a shoestring budget of Rs 2.5 crore, Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Satya’ went on to be a bona-fide success at the box-office, earning Rs 15 crore. It also kickstarted the career of two Bollywood veterans - actor Manoj Bajpai and director Anurag Basu (who co-wrote the film with actor-screenwriter Saurabh Shukla) who would go on to be the doyens of indie/art films in Bollywood.

 

 

 

Satya has been credited with starting a new genre of film with non-starry casts, well-developed storylines, and tight budgets. Film historian Rachel Dwyer (based at the University of London, Department of South Asia), said the movie set the blueprint of realistic crime thrillers and gave birth to a new genre- Mumbai noir.

Unlike the stereotypical Bollywood thrillers, ‘Satya’ doesn’t have an angsty hero who is on a mission for revenge. The protagonist is a blank slate, with no known antecedents. He is not out to correct an injustice or settle scores. Neither is he seeking redemption. He comes to Mumbai for a job and circumstances lead him to the underbelly of the city.

The movie was not an overnight sensation. “For a week, there was no audience inside the theatres. Only after the word of mouth started getting stronger and stronger from the second week onwards, it started attracting people and theatres started filling up, However, the film gathered momentum at the box-office due to positive word-of-mouth and enjoyed a theatrical run of 25 weeks.

A Crime drama has been a staple in Bollywood, but the Ram Gopal Verma has changed the way people viewed characters with “bearded sweaty faces” on screen. Along with the help of amazing writing by saurabh shukla and anurag kashyap, Ram Gopal Verma cancelled the cliched narratives of loyalty, honor etc. satya changed career trajectories of Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpayee, shefali shah and others.

According to the Ram Gopal Verma , he forgot to say "CUT": “The scene went on beyond its original conception because I didn’t say cut and because the actors improvised. That is when it finally struck me how Satya should be made. I decided to make Satya around the actual content conceived by me—in the style of what happened before and what after. All the realistic performances happened because I didn’t restrict actors to a script. "

 

 

 

Now, moving towards the other aspect that makes Satya, the songs. According to the music composer Vishal Bhardwaj, ram Gopal Verma hesitant about having songs because he didn't want songs to make his film “impure. The first song composed by Vishal Bhardwaj for the film was 'Baadalon Se' sung by the late great Bhupinder Singh. Eventually, Ramu also wanted a Punjabi dance number in a Marathi wedding, Sapne Mein Milti Hai! The film's background score, composed by Sandeep Chowta, is so iconic & deeply ingrained in the Indian psyche that we often fail to recognize it as being from Satya. It has been reused countless times across languages on TV whenever crime or crime-related aspects are depicted.

We can go on and on about the film, but we will end this article with Last scene from movie itself, since Bhau(Criminal Politician Character Played By Govind Namdeo) put a bullet in Bhiku, killing him on the spot. Bhiku's shocking death remains one of the most blindsiding movie moments, in the same vein as Tommy's (Joe Pesci) death in Goodfellas. last but not least , Satya has been considered "A Groundbreaking Bollywood Movie that Explored the dark side of Crime. it showed us the complex power struggles, Loyalty and the consequences of choices in a violent and corrupt world!"

 

 

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