Satya

Such was the power of this movie that people in the movie house were actually jeering when the occasional song came around(even the mandatory "rain song"). A sight very uncommon in Indian cinemas!!

The movie scored highly over the others in it's genre mainly because of its realistic portrayal of incidents like shooting, fighting etc, without being overly dramatic.

Ironically, the name of the movie is derived from it's principal character Satya, but the real hero of the movie is Bhiku Matre, played by the IMMENSELY talented Manoj Bajpai. The character Satya is just the central hinge around which the movie rotates.

The violent scenes in the movie are shot in a typical Hollywood style, and it's just shoot at sight everywhere.

Just when you start to get the feeling that it is IN to go around with a rod in your pocket, the morality lesson takes over and the gun-slingers eventually meet their end.

Satya is a realistic drama which tells the story of its title character, a simple orphaned guy who tries to live life honestly and make a fair living, but is unable to. Only when he enters the underworld, the most dangerous and seemingly dreadful place, does he find financial success, friendship and love. But when he tries to run away and return to his previous simple world, he finds out that all doors are closed for him. Satya is a film that brings very distinct points to its subject matter in comparison to previous films dealing with similar themes. The film is not about underworld. It's about a guy who finds himself trapped in the world of mafia. It's about the pluses and minuses of being involved in such a terrible world. The film is very authentic, and everything in it, from cinematography to music, contributes to this style almost perfectly. The characters are all simple and easy to relate to, they all have dreams of a better life. The story of each character is presented through the eyes of Satya in a minute and unique way.

Satya has been blamed for depicting Mumbai as a dirty city of crime, terror and violence. Ram Gopal Varma has also been accused of trying to glorify the mafia. But this view is according to me incorrect; the film clearly shows that anyone who enters this world will end up living under constant threat for his life and eventually find himself killed in the most dire of circumstances. The success, the friendship, the love the film's hero finds, all of it is lost in one unfortunate chain of tragic incidents: the death of his friends, the rejection of his girlfriend, and ultimately his own defeat. That's the result and that's what Varma probably tried to convey. Obviously the hero is portrayed as a good human being and you feel for his ill-fate, but that's to be expected. It's of course partly his own fault, but it's mainly a situation created by circumstances.

The acting is terrific. The most sincere performance is that of Manoj Bajpai, who is simply outstanding. He paid attention to both the dark and the bright sides of his character. Urmila Matondkar sheds her well-known image and transforms into a simple dreamy girl in this film. She lets go of her sex appeal and intensity and skillfully creates a sensitive young woman who believes that a better life does exist. An out-and-out excellent performance. Shefali Shah has an extremely small role with little importance. Yet, she is flawless in every possible scene and makes the best of what she is given, which is commendable. The only actor who is not as emotionally convincing is ironically the main protagonist, played by J.D Chakravarthy. He is average in everything he does and was not really a great choice for the part. Satya, while not a film that works for everyone, is an extraordinary film and one of the greatest from its genre. A must-watch.

Here is a movie that would go a classic as far as indian films go. A true rendition of the underworld saga of "Mumbai". Mumbai ka king kaun-Manoj Bajpai. A brilliant performance. Also, a masterpiece background score by Sandeep Chowta. One movie that could have given a good run for money to any of it's hollywood peers.Of course, if cinema knew no language:-)

SATYA stands out from the normal Bollywood romance fair, being a rather dark and gritty look at the crime underworld of Mumbai. The movie follows the fortunes of a guy called Satya (lit: "Truth") in the underworld, and the subtle script explores the theme with a lot of depth.

Satya himself is a wonderful character, one of my favourite screen characters ever in fact. Part of this is due to his fantastic beard, but the depth and humanity his character and the performance of J.D.Chakravarti have contribute a lot too.

The script and direction of SATYA show a sharpness that cuts to the core of its subject matter in a way that the song and dance routines of the blockbuster movies from any country do. The 3 hour running time allows it to develop and nurture its themes very thoroughly. The result is one of the most palpably intelligent movies ever made about gangsters.

This is no romanticised "cool of the killer" type movie, it's a pretty honest and thought provoking look at a lifestyle that hopefully nobody reading this has direct involvement with.

Strong recommendation to see!

I've been newly introduced to Indian film, so I'm no expert. But clearly it is more than just Bollywood. Viewing "Satya," after previously seeing another film by Ram Gopal Varma, "Company," I would have to say that Varma is one of the greatest filmmakers now working. With these two movies that are deft, unsentimental, and at the same time not hard-boiled, he seems to add something unique to the gangster genre: the emotionally rounded portrait of the gangster, the gangster inside-out.

Unlike American gangster movies of the 30s, which "Satya" and "Company" remind me of somewhat, Varma's movies are more philosophically ambitious and do something more difficult: they manage to be moral without moralizing. And differently than Coppola's "Godfather" trilogy, where people seem born into a life of crime, Varma shows them becoming criminals and the results of the choices they've made.

I should also say, from the point of view of entertainment, Varma's films are riveting and earn every second of their "Bollywood" length. They do not have unnecessary "filler." Even the de riguer musical numbers "work" and have arrangements and choreography you could imagine on a hip New York stage.

If it hasn't already happened, Varma is ready to be discovered by the festival circuit. I myself am ordering everything I can find by him on DVD and can't wait to check out his other work. Films like "Satya" and "Company" are surely not a fluke.