When filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya released 25 years ago, there were barely 15-20 people in cinema halls. After months of hard work, casting changes, stalled production, the Manoj Bajpayee starrer was looking at a virtual vanish from cinema halls, when things suddenly started changing. Today after 25 years the film is considered one of the greatest gangster flicks.
Satya was a game-changer in Manoj Bajpayee’s career, and the actor says he will always be “indebted” to both the film and RGV. “I didn’t have a career when I did Satya. I was just getting some small roles here and there, and surviving in the city. Satya has given me a career. My career came in full shape after this film,” says Bajpayee, who essayed the iconic character called Bhiku Matre.
Revealing that he landed the role because of the film’s director, Bajpayee tells us, “I was taken to Ramu by Kannan Iyer. When Ramu came to know I played Maan Singh in Bandit Queen, he jumped and said that I loved you in that film and I always wanted to give you work in my films, but please don’t do Daud. But, I was insistent on doing the film Daud because it was giving me money and a role. Although it was a small role, but I didn’t mind it, because beggars can’t be choosers,” continuing, “If I look back, so many dialogues of Satya became so popular that they are famous even now. Topmost being, ‘Mumbai ka king kaun?’ I am not an actor who believed in dialogue-baazi, but I was just living in the character.”
Going down memory lane, the 54-year-old gets extremely nostalgic as he recalls the memories he collected while shooting for the film. “We really didn’t know how its all going to turn out. The enthusiasm was that we were going to make something we always wanted to, with so much freedom to perform. We were improvising everyday, because we were given that freedom by the writers and directors to create and deliberate together,” he says.
Asked if Satya was created an impact on the industry and audience in its time 25 years ago, the actor opines, “There is an industry pre-Satya and an industry post Satya. You can actually see that difference very clearly. It has completely changed the way the industry looked at cinema and theatre actors. It’s remarkable in the manner that it has given confidence to the new talents in every department. This is the magic that Satya has created. A young mind sitting in Lucknow or Patna could dream of coming to Mumbai and telling his/her story.”