A story of an unknown man, an unknown face who comes to Bombay, &unlike other movies this guy here is not following big dreams and not come with a purpose of striking it rich. He doesn’t tell why he has come. We don’t know why he has come.
Who is he ?
He is Satya !
Satya who?
That’s the question, which remains, unanswered in the movie. & in reality.Satya could be the guy standing next to me in the local train, Sitting next to me in a movie. Satya could be anyone!
Satya:The Story
Satya.A man with no background & no path for future. Arrives at Bombay, A city that never sleeps. Lands up with a bed in a tabela ,job as a waiter in a Ladies Dance bar. Satya gets into a tangle with Jagga a local mafia lord who happens to be at that place for collection of Hafta <Protection Money>.But before things go out of hand, Satya is taken away by the hotel staff.
Thus Satya,has his first encounter with the other side of the world.Where there are no two sides of right & wrong. There is only one.& they are always right.For no mistake of his,he unknowingly has made an enemy.
Satya, refuses to pay Chanda <donation>,& has a scuffle with a local hoodlum Whisked off from his hotel,He faces the wrath of Jagga & is beaten black & blue &let off. Later at another face-2-face encounter with Jagga, a humiliated Satya responds by hitting back. But is over powered by a Police Inspector, the legal arm of the Mafia. Charged with being a p.imp he is put in jail, here he meets the rival Mafia Don Bhiku Mhatre, who is in jail for arranging & executing the murder of a Film Producer. They both hit off here, with the brains & ideas of Satya, The hotheaded Bhiku & his gang take on themselves to become the Kings of the Underworld & to “Rule” Bombay. & in their way to glory threaten the builders/ businessmen/Film Industry & eliminate, rival gangsters dons, Politicians & Police officials. All cos they feel they are Right. In the end he tries to get out of the mess by trying to get out India. The end sadly is typical Hindi movie melodrama, with a moral that “Crime Never Pays”. But the movie will surely keep you glued to your seats
Satya: The Characters And Performances
Satya:-Chakraborty:Cakraborty,an unknown face in Hindi cinema.He had played the Role of JD in Ramu varma’s Shiva.With very few dialogues,he has managed to portray the intensity & sheer brutality that the character demanded.This in my opinion is the class of the actor & the director.No Gory & unwarranted dialogues.He has done full justice to both sides of Satya,the Killer Mafia guy, & the shy,loving caring Satya when he is with Urmila & her parents.
The Protagonist,The Hero [?],but can we call him the hero. Hindi film history makes us to believe that he is the hero. A person “compelled” by forces to be bad is a hero. A Simple guy, who seldom talks, rarely smiles, every ones friend, polite. A faithful partner to Vidya.Is not shown being gory,smoking or drinking or enjoying any vices, He is the good guy [?] among the bad guys.Yet he is a killer. Can shoot people at will.He gets people to work his way by threatening them or if need be kills them.He gets Urmila a chance in Playback singing by threatening the music director with his life. Yet Satya dies a “HERO”. A murder by Satya, even that of the Police commissioner seems justified. We pity Satya when he is killed. Why?
Bhiku Mhatre :- Manoj Bajpai Satya’s friend. A hotheaded, Mafia don with a group of young chaps at his disposal. Who does not think before killing!
“ Karna hai … Toh Karna hai “ .
Manoj Bajpai has succeeded in immortalizing the character of Bhiku Mhatre, by gelling so well in the character that it is really difficult to say that he was “Acting”.It was as if he is the real Bhiku. The mannerisms,the laugh,the language that he speaks all are so close to being real. A guy with a family & kids, but does not hide this fact from them. Killing, being in jail is a part of life for him & his wife who has also adapted herself to this way of living. A caring friend, an able leader, a husband, a doting father, a ruthless killer. The Audiences loved Bhiku Mhatre but like Satya, Bhiku also is in a way justified in being bad. When Bhiku Kills innocents, extorts money the audience do not conceive him as bad or villainous. But when Bhiku is killed, we all skip a beat; we feel that he has been cheated. The world is not fair. He should not have died. Not this way. Why?
Vidya :- Urmila Matondkar Satya’s neighbor & lover A simple lower middle class family girl , with old parents & an aspiration to become a play back singer. But unable to make it in the big bad world where everyone ties to exploit the poor girl. & when she finally unexpectedly gets the chance, she is unaware that Satya pointed a Gun at the Music director’s head to get her that chance. Nothing much was in this movie to prove her acting caliber. Except in the last scenes when she realizes the reality that Satya is & she appears to be in a state of shock. I dint like her acting, I thought she was over acting. But she has won a lot of critical acclaim for her performance.
The Others:Ram gopal varma has taken care to not include faces that are recognized by the masses. Most of the actors are fresh so you cannot identify them with any other role or characters of theirs. But each of the characters he created with relatively unknown actors in this movie will be etched in memory for a long time to come. Kallu Mama (Saurabh Shukla),the manager & theThink tank for the gang. Chander, a member in Bhiku’s gang, bubbly humorous,kiddish.The Lawyer Mulle who looks stoned always & acts as the legal wing of Bhiku gang. Shefali Chhaya as bhiku’s wife.Bold & savvy.Bhau the smart & cunning politician who uses people like Bhiku for political gains.Inspector Khandagle,The Man with a purpose,an honest police officer out to wipe out the Mafia. Who in the end wins the battle. Paresh Rawal as the Police Commissioner. Give this guy any role in the world & rest assured he will do 100% justice to it. He is fantastic as the calm composed but shrewd hand of law.
Satya :- The Sights and Sounds
Satya the movie has some really wonderful scenes, dialogues & songs.
“Goli Maar Bheje main” and “ Sapne Main Milti hai”, especially the choreography of this song was done in such a fantastic mumbai ishtyle that it was a hit with the Masses.
“Badlon se “ is another nice hummable song. & the Background score & the “Mood of satya” By Sandeep Chowta the music director kept the pace & tempo of the movie alive.
Satya bought the brutal truth of killings & murders closer to us. Made us realize that there are people there who can kill for a paltry sum & without reason.
Satya, The movie spoke the language of the masses, of the people that are there in plenty but we don’t identify them. The tone ruthless, uncouth & yet so real. The movie captures the gory details of reality in Bombay where murders, looting extortion, encounter killing is just a way of life.It touches a chord with a class of people who are already into or the verge of getting into the mafia or local hooliganism.Satya spoke for them. But was the message correct? No doubt they killed Satya in the end, but didn’t he die as a Martyr or rather a HERO [?]
So who is Satya?
Any Answers?
