Satya is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language crime film, produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma; written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap. It stars J. D. Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpayee, alongside Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Shrivastava, Paresh Rawal, and Shefali Shah. It is the first of Varma's Gangster trilogy about organised crime in India. The film follows Satya (Chakravarthy), an immigrant who comes to Mumbai looking for a job, befriends Bhiku Mhatre (Bajpayee) and is drawn into the Mumbai underworld.
Varma initially planned to make an action film but decided to make a film focusing on felonies after meeting some criminals. He hired Kashyap and Shukla to write the film and opted to use lesser-known actors. The soundtrack and score were composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and Sandeep Chowta, respectively, while the lyrics were written by Gulzar. Its early cinematography was done by Gerard Hooper, who was replaced by Mazhar Kamran. The film was shot in Mumbai on a budget of .
Satya was released on 3 July 1998 with widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its realistic depiction of the Indian underworld and Bajpayee's performance. It was also very commercially successful, grossing , and helped launch a number of careers (especially for Kashyap and Bajpayee). The film won six Filmfare Awards and a National Film Award. Manoj Bajpayee won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Satya. Over the years, Satya has been regarded as a cult film, and is considered one of the greatest films ever in Indian cinema, credited with laying the foundation for gangster films in Bollywood. It inspired several sequels like Company (2002) and D (2005), and a direct sequel, Satya 2 (2013). Danny Boyle watched Satya and Company (2002) to understand the true colour of Mumbai before he started filming his acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire. He acknowledged this in an interview.
Plot Satya arrives in Mumbai in search of employment and secures a job at a local dance bar. When a volatile criminal named Jagga throws a drink in Satya's face out of dissatisfaction, tension escalates. Soon after, Jagga's underling, Pakya, attempts to extort money from Satya, who responds by slashing Pakya's face with a razor. In retaliation, Jagga’s henchmen brutally assault Satya. Meanwhile, a parallel gang war unfolds as two gangsters, Bapu and Vitthal Manjrekar, assassinate a prominent film producer on the orders of their syndicate boss, Bhiku Mhatre. Manjrekar is apprehended during the getaway and confesses Mhatre's involvement to Inspector Khandilkar, resulting in Mhatre's arrest.
Jagga subsequently frames Satya for procuring, leading to Satya's imprisonment. In jail, Satya crosses paths with Mhatre, and the two engage in a fistfight. Impressed by Satya's resilience and lack of fear, Mhatre utilizes a corrupt lawyer, Chandrakant Mule, to secure Satya's release. Upon his release, Satya is given an apartment by Kallu Mama and meets Vidya, an aspiring singer living next door. When Manjrekar recants his confession in court, Mhatre is released as well. Backed by Mhatre, Satya guns down Jagga inside the dance bar and officially joins the gang. The syndicate targets a wealthy builder named Malhotra for extortion; however, a scheduled meeting turns into an ambush. After narrowly escaping the trap, Satya interrogates a captured assailant, who reveals the hit was ordered by Mhatre's fierce rival, Guru Narayan. Concurrently, Satya intimidates a music director into signing Vidya for a prestigious project, sparking a romantic relationship between Satya and Vidya, who remains entirely oblivious to his criminal lifestyle.
Guru Narayan returns to Mumbai to eliminate Mhatre's faction, but both syndicates are ordered to cease hostilities by Bhau Thakurdas Jhawle, an influential politician who provides protection to both gangs. Bhau warns them that a bloody gang war will jeopardize his upcoming election campaign. Secretly, Guru Narayan contacts Bhau to demand permission to execute Satya to avenge Jagga. Unaware of this backdoor deal, Mhatre agrees to a truce, but Satya convinces him that Guru Narayan must be eliminated preemptively. Satya leads a ruthless strike, wiping out Guru Narayan and his entire faction, an act that deeply alienates Bhau.
To curb the rising violence, the government appoints a ruthless new police commissioner, Amodh Shukla. Simultaneously, Bhau feigns forgiveness toward Mhatre's gang to maintain their muscle for the elections. Under Shukla's command, the police launch an aggressive encounter campaign, killing numerous gang members. At Satya's strategic suggestion, Mhatre assassinates Commissioner Shukla to terrorize the police force, successfully securing Bhau’s landslide electoral victory.
While Satya and Vidya are attending a movie theater, Pakya spots Satya and alerts the authorities. Inspector Khandilkar surrounds the cinema, locking all exits except one to trap Satya. Satya outsmarts the police by firing a blank cartridge inside the theater, triggering a massive stampede that allows him and Vidya to escape. Recognizing the danger to Vidya, Satya begs Mhatre to let him retire from the underworld. Mhatre agrees and promises to relocate the couple safely to Dubai. However, when Mhatre arrives at Bhau's villa to celebrate the election victory, Bhau betrays him, executing Mhatre on the spot as retribution for Guru Narayan’s death. While Kallu Mama and Mule manage to flee the scene, the police raid Satya's apartment. Satya is forced to escape alone, leaving a devastated Vidya behind to learn the horrific truth of his criminal identity from Khandilkar.
Satya retreats to Kallu Mama's hideout. When Mule orders Mama to execute Satya, Mama rebels and kills the lawyer instead, cementing a pact with Satya to avenge Mhatre. During a crowded Ganesh Chaturthi festival on the beach, Satya successfully assassinates Bhau but sustains critical gunshot wounds. Mama attempts to smuggle the dying Satya onto a Dubai-bound cargo ship, but Satya insists on seeing Vidya one last time. Satya arrives at her apartment and knocks frantically on the door. As Vidya tearfully refuses to open it, Khandilkar ambushes the perimeter, killing Mama inside the getaway vehicle. Satya successfully breaks down the apartment door, but Khandilkar corners him and shoots him down. Satya collapses and dies just a few inches away from Vidya.
Cast
J. D. Chakravarthy as Satya Urmila Matondkar as Vidya Manoj Bajpayee as Bhiku Mhatre Paresh Rawal as Police Commissioner Amod Shukla Saurabh Shukla as Kallu Mama Govind Namdeo as Thakurdas Jhawle aka 'Bhau' (Gangster turn politician) Makrand Deshpande as Advocate Chandrakant Mule Shefali Shah as Pyari Mhatre Raju Mavani as Guru Narayan Aditya Srivastava as Inspector Khandilkar Neeraj Vora as Music Director Ronusagar Rajesh Joshi as Bapu Sabir Masani as Yeda, Bhiku's Gang Member Snehal Dabi as Chander Krishnakant Khote Jeeva as Jagga Hyderabadi Jyotsna Karyekar as Vidya's Mother Utkarsh Mazumdar as Vidya's father Sanjay Mishra as Vitthal Manjrekar Rajeev Mehta as Lawyer Harshad Chawla Sushant Singh as Pakya Manoj Pahwa as tabela(buffalo dairy) owner Anupam Shyam in a special appearance as a police officer who puts Satya in jail for fake charges of procuring Mithilesh Chaturvedi as Builder Abhinav Malhotra Shishir Sharma as Head of Inquiry Committee Arun Bali as Home Secretary Mr. Vishal Sharma Jyoti Dogra as Jyoti Shukla, Amod Shukla's wife Banerjee as Bhau's henchman
Production
Development
Director Ram Gopal Varma, fascinated with Mumbai, wanted to return to making action films after a long break. While he was planning the film, Varma encountered some people from the underworld and became interested in their human side. Music producer and singer Gulshan Kumar was shot dead outside the Jeeteshwar Mahadev temple in Mumbai on 12 August 1997. Varma learned about the murder from Jhamu Sughand, who had produced Rangeela. Sughand told Varma that Gulshan had awakened at about 7 am and told the producer he would meet a singer at 8 am and a friend at 8:30; he would then go to the temple and meet him afterwards. Varma then thought, "If Gulshan had woken up at 7 am, then at what time would the killer have woken up?" He then decided to make a film about gangsters and, as an Ayn Rand fan, wanted to "put Howard Roark in the underworld".
Varma had intended to leave songs out of the film, but " ... at that time it was very difficult to make a film without a song since the music companies were almost 'ruling the industry' and it was impossible to promote a song-less film". With a basic story in his mind, the director wanted Vijay Tendulkar to write the film's dialogue; he admired Tendulkar's work, particularly Ardh Satya (1983). However, Tendulkar was unable to work on Satya. The film was edited by newcomer Apurva Asrani, who edited the trailer for Daud, and Bhanodaya. Impressed by his work, Varma offered Apurva the editing position on Satya when he was nineteen years old. Varma incorporated several scenes from real life in the film including the scene were gangster Bhiku Mhatre abuses one of his dead friends over his death, asking, "how could you die?". One of his friends told him that his neighbor was a criminal whom he used to greet every day but could not guess that he was involved in crime. Varma liked this angle and used it in the film as well. Varma said that the characters in the film "are at a very low level of the gangster hierarchy". On the film's title, Varma said that he named it Satya for two reasons: one being a homage to Ardh Satya and the other one was a namesake girl whom he used to love in college who did not love him back.
Casting A struggling Manoj Bajpayee auditioned for the role of Paresh Rawal's henchman in Daud, and Varma asked him if he had done any other film work; Bajpayee mentioned his supporting role in Bandit Queen. Varma, impressed by his performance in Bandit Queen, said that he wanted to give him a bigger role and advised him not to do Daud. However, Bajpayee wanted to appear in the film and Varma agreed. After filming was completed, Varma told Bajpayee that he regretted giving him a minor role and promised him a prominent role in his next film. Bajpayee suggested newcomer Anurag Kashyap's name to Varma for the screenplay. Varma liked Kashyap's Auto Narayan, and signed him to write the script. Although Kashyap was already writing the film, Varma felt that he needed a more experienced writer and asked Saurabh Shukla. Shukla was initially hesitant, since he wrote films he could direct. He went to Varma's office to decline, but Varma told him that he wanted to cast him in the film and outlined the plot. Shukla then agreed to do the film, since he was "stuck" with the narration. They went to Varma's farmhouse in Hyderabad and wrote the first draft in a week without doing research, since Kashyap felt that a gangster's psychology is "very similar to anybody else". Bajpayee had never met any gangster in his life and was not good at speaking Marathi, even though he was playing a Maharashtrian character. He then decided to first work on his external look and grew a beard, a heavy face and curly hair. He took suggestions from his maid on how to get the nuances of the Marathi accent and worked on the character for three to four months before filming began.