Now, this is what I call a great film. 'Satya' is no highly-stylized, cool-guy-with-a-gun gangster film but a gritty, honest portrayal of a man who is dragged into a life of crime.
The movie starts outside a crowded station when a young man named Satya (J.D. Chakravarthy) comes to Mumbai in search of a job. Living in a small slum, he finds a petty job soon. But his life is turned upside down when he gets into trouble with the egoistic local goon who beats him up and throws him into jail where he is charged for a crime he did not commit. There, he meets the psychotic gangster Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai) who agrees to help him avenge his humiliation in a bid to get rid of his own enemies.
One of the primary reasons why 'Satya' works is that Ram Gopal Varma is not scared to take risks. He doesn't try too hard to make the audience feel sympathy for the characters. The film does not boast of picturesque locations and you're glad that it doesn't, because it makes the viewing even more meaningful. Varma masterfully toys with the script in a way that every dialog and nuance falls perfectly into place. J.D. Chakravarthy, who plays the lead role, turns in a convincing performance and so does Urmila Matondkar who plays his love interest in the film. The performances of the rest of the cast are worth bragging about but the real star of the film is Manoj Bajpai. I would happily single out his performance as one of the best I've seen and he deservedly won a National award for it. The screenplay, jointly written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap is pitch-perfect, because they have a wonderful ear for the local lingo. Gerard Hooper's and Mazhar Kamran's stark cinematography is an absolute wow, adding to an already long list of the film's positives.
If I have to criticize 'Satya' for something, it would be the timing of the songs. I feel that the film could've done without the songs, but then, the film is so near-perfect that you tend to not pay attention to the film's negatives.
For me, 'Satya' will always remain the greatest Indian film ever made. The film's depiction of a desperate man struggling to make an honest living but failing to do so is so realistic that it terrifies you. It defies every single rule on how to make a perfect Bollywood-style film. Grab a DVD and watch it. The film is something extraordinary.
The movie starts outside a crowded station when a young man named Satya (J.D. Chakravarthy) comes to Mumbai in search of a job. Living in a small slum, he finds a petty job soon. But his life is turned upside down when he gets into trouble with the egoistic local goon who beats him up and throws him into jail where he is charged for a crime he did not commit. There, he meets the psychotic gangster Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai) who agrees to help him avenge his humiliation in a bid to get rid of his own enemies.
One of the primary reasons why 'Satya' works is that Ram Gopal Varma is not scared to take risks. He doesn't try too hard to make the audience feel sympathy for the characters. The film does not boast of picturesque locations and you're glad that it doesn't, because it makes the viewing even more meaningful. Varma masterfully toys with the script in a way that every dialog and nuance falls perfectly into place. J.D. Chakravarthy, who plays the lead role, turns in a convincing performance and so does Urmila Matondkar who plays his love interest in the film. The performances of the rest of the cast are worth bragging about but the real star of the film is Manoj Bajpai. I would happily single out his performance as one of the best I've seen and he deservedly won a National award for it. The screenplay, jointly written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap is pitch-perfect, because they have a wonderful ear for the local lingo. Gerard Hooper's and Mazhar Kamran's stark cinematography is an absolute wow, adding to an already long list of the film's positives.
If I have to criticize 'Satya' for something, it would be the timing of the songs. I feel that the film could've done without the songs, but then, the film is so near-perfect that you tend to not pay attention to the film's negatives.
For me, 'Satya' will always remain the greatest Indian film ever made. The film's depiction of a desperate man struggling to make an honest living but failing to do so is so realistic that it terrifies you. It defies every single rule on how to make a perfect Bollywood-style film. Grab a DVD and watch it. The film is something extraordinary.