Satya

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.

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.

I am not a big fan of Hindi films - infact I'm not a fan of commercial Hindi films at all. But then there's Satya, Ram Gopal Varma's classic 1998 Indian mafia fan is brilliant, innovative and despite certain directorial flaws is nonetheless so vastly different from the run of the mill Hindi films (ie. 99% of Hindi films) that it is unforgettable. It is 175 minutes long, the typical duration, but it grabs you instantaneously as you follow the journey of Satya who comes to Mumbai to make a life for himself.

Before getting into a long winded review, I shall just point out a few plusses and minuses of this great movie. The minuses are minor and are nothing compared to the mishaps in a normal hindi film.

Plusses: - Manoj Bajpai, Manoj Bajpai and lastly, Manoj Bajpai. This is probably the single best acting performance by an Indian in the 90s. The realism and flawlessness he brings to the role is amazing. He does to go a bit over the top, but without losing any of his characters identity (hell, Pacino has been doing it for years now). - The rest of the cast. Urmila is incredibly refreshing as the innocent girl next door with the usual handicapped Dad and perennially miserable Mom. Saurabh Shukla as Kalu Mama is brilliant and comes quite close to Bajpai performance-wise. The realism he brings is equally breathtaking. Just seeing the scene where he, Bajpai and Govind Namdeo (Bhau) literally makes you a member of the gang, standing there and smiling along with them. - The plot is largely excellent. - (see weakness #2) Golimaar and Sapne Me are hilarious musical numbers

Now for two minor flaws: - Ram Gopal Varma's directorial synchronization of music and plot is often out of sync. A classic example is during the scene after the gangland shootout (when Kalumama first sees Vidya and Satya). There are certain other flaws as well in his direction as well. - Barring numbers from classic Hindi films (known for their music), I have never been even a remote fan of Hindi film singing and dancing. I feel three out of five songs in this movie are totally unnecessary and I would've enjoyed an "all-out" realistic film for a change w/o any songs. Having said that, the film is all the more memorable due to the two main numbers: Goli Maar and Sapne me milti hai - mainly due to Bhiku's gang and their histrionics.

All in all a refreshing Hindi film that made me a part of the main gang for the three hour duration and left me wanting more. I hope this inspires a revival of GOOD hindi films as was in the late 70s and early 80s.

Ramgopal Varma's hard hitting film on the Bombay Underworld. This movie is a classic from scene one to the climax. When you see this movie you will see history in the making. A hard hitting story of a person from nowhere , Satya. How he joins the underworld gang led by bhiku mhatre. This movie gives one message hard 'CRIME NEVER PAYS'.The scene where chander(snehal dabi) tells a joke, the scene where bhiku mhatre satya vidya and pyaari go for a dinner, the scene where yedda scares the music director romu sagar, the theatre scene, the climax, all these scenes will go down in the history of Indian cinema as classic scenes. Urmila Matondkar as Satya's Girlfriend and Shefali Chaaya as bhiku mhatre's wife are excellent. J.D.Chakravarthi is brilliant as Satya. Manoj Bajpai gives an excellent and award winning performance as bhiku mhatre.He has managed to make the character of bhiku mhatre an immortal one like late amjad khan did for gabbar singh. Govind Namdeo is brilliant as Bhau. Co-script writer saurabh shukla is superb as kallu mama.It is so nice to see that first time writers saurabh shukla & anurag kashyap wrote such a brilliant script. A special mention must be made of the best cameo since rajesh khanna's cameo in andaz, by paresh raawal as commissioner of police.Satya was supposed to be made as a songless film but co-producer Bharat Shah felt that no distributor will buy the film and it will be too tense. Music director Vishal Bharadwaj and lyricist Gulzar were roped in to provide the music for this film and they did a brilliant work. The song 'Sapne Main milti hai' and 'kallu mamma' are too good. This is one of the very few brilliant movies of the 90's.

Ramgopal Varma's hard hitting film on the Bombay Underworld. This movie is a classic from scene one to the climax. When you see this movie you will see history in the making. A hard hitting story of a person from nowhere , Satya. How he joins the underworld gang led by bhiku mhatre. This movie gives one message hard "CRIME NEVER PAYS".The scene where chander(snehal dabi) tells a joke, the scene where bhiku mhatre satya vidya and pyaari go for a dinner, the scene where yedda scares the music director romu sagar, the theatre scene, the climax, all these scenes will go down in the history of indian cinema as classic scenes. Urmila Matondkar as Satya's Girlfriend and Shefali Chaaya as bhiku mhatre's wife are excellent. J.D.Chakravarthi is brilliant as Satya. Manoj Bajpai gives an excellent and award winning performance as bhiku mhatre.He has managed to make the character of bhiku mhatre an immortal one like late amjad khan did for gabbar singh. Govind Namdeo is brilliant as Bhau. Co-script writer saurabh shukla is superb as kallu mama.It is so nice to see that first time writers saurabh shukla & anurag kashyap wrote such a brilliant script. A special mention must be made of the best cameo since rajesh khanna's cameo in andaz, by paresh raawal as commissioner of police.Satya was supposed to be made as a songless film but co-producer Bharat Shah felt that no distributor will buy the film and it will be too tense. Music director Vishal Bharadwaj and lyricist Gulzar were roped in to provide the music for this film and they did a brilliant work. The song "Sapne Main milti hai" and "kallu mamma" are too good. This is one of the very few brilliant movies of the 90's.