25 Years of Satya: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather series and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America are two of the finest depictions of gangsters in Hollywood. Interestingly, they feed different narratives to the audience when portraying the rugged worlds of their lawless men.
Beginning from the very first sequence, where Don Vito Corleone receives his clients, The Godfather creates an aura of grandeur and pomp around its mafioso, even if it seeks to sit beyond the rigid definitions of right or wrong. On the other hand, Once Upon a Time in America shows the violence of its grey men in all its starkness; the zenith of its machismo is intertwined with its ugliness.
Released 25 years back on this day, Satya remains the most honest study of the gangster era that haunted Mumbai during the 80s and 90s. Like the two movies mentioned above, it also exposes the patriarchal underpinnings of this culture. While the movie strives for its audience to feel its characters in a manner akin to The Godfather, it also doesn’t shy away from depicting the ugly machismo (if in a much lighter tone) like Once Upon a Time in America.
The violence of Satya’s gangsters isn’t an imposition but a choice. While poverty and its attached ills drive many, like Satya himself, to choose this ‘profession,’ the psychological make-up of a gangster is informed by the need for male dominance. So, the simple evolution of a name from ‘Chandu Mote’ to ‘Chandar Bhai’ has elements of chauvinistic subjugation of women, which in turn helps Chandar raise his fear factor.
Similarly, Satya’s (J.D. Chakravarthy) ability to stand up for himself is applauded by Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpayee). Still, he needs to prove his manliness to complete his initiation into Bhiku’s inner circle. Stoking his older animosity with Jagga (Jeeva), Bhiku hands his protégé a German-made pistol and gives a simple instruction.
“Karna hai toh Karna hai.”
Women in this world are confined to the roles of providing familial or emotional support (Shefali Shah’s Pyari, Urmila Matondkar’s Vidya) or physical comfort (frequent references to prostitution within the film). But even so, they influence the narrative, and their treatment is an essential reflection of the male-dominated structures. Satya’s love interest Vidya, an aspiring singer, is on the periphery of violence from the beginning to the end. Her career aspirations receive a setback after she disregards the advances of a sleazy producer. However, she eventually does get the role after the underworld’s intervention on her behalf.
However, as with any imagined formulation, the machismo culture suffers from structural loopholes. The display of manliness is often a means to an end. So, Bhiku needs to maintain his bhai image before Satya and slaps his wife after being rebuked for coming late. As soon as Satya leaves, it’s as if someone has flipped a switch. Shefali Shah’s character retorts in kind to Bhiku, and suddenly the duo transition into a normal, playful couple. While he has to be macho at work, Bhiku is also responsible for being a family man at home.
Bhiku also has the wits to bow down before the dreaded Bhau (Govind Namdeo) instead of getting into a turf war to establish his dominance. The underworld activity is basically an economic function for all the muscles-and-gun shows. We become aware of this at the very start. When Kallu Mama (Saurabh Shukla) extorts money from a builder, we see that he’s aware of his business’s ‘ins and outs’ to the very last figure. Down the line, we see how Satya understands that fear is this business’s nerve center. When the hot-headed Bhiku wants to kill the builders for not paying the extortion money, Satya explains to him:
“Ye dhanda hai, humein unke dar se fayda hai, maut se nahi”
Urmila Matondkar in Satya (1998)Taking up this life isn’t merely an exit from their erstwhile poverty but also helps Satya to become an agent of change for others in need. He uses his money and influence to help out Vidya and her family on several occasions. Satya’s smarts help him rise to the ranks, but his dedication to Bhiku makes him the gangster’s most trusted lieutenant. Their friendship is forged much before Satya becomes an associate of the Mhatre gang. At no stage does Satya let money or ambition come in the way of their friendship. This makes Satya stand out because everyone else in the movie seems to be looking out for themselves.
Ram Gopal Varma builds a unique protagonist in Bollywood, who is introduced to us as an outsider to his circumstances. But the thing that really stands out about Satya is his emptiness. He is without a home, family, belief system, or any background. When asked about his origins, he responds, “Kya farak padta hai?”
He responds negatively when questioned about his belief in God and is unafraid of death. Satya is gradually filled in by his circumstances and the people around him. He is particularly cold when he picks up a gun for the first time but slowly warms up to the friendship of Bhiku and the love of Vidya. These remain his most valuable possessions in the film, way above any material benefits.
Unlike Ajay Sharma (Shahrukh Khan) from Baazigar, the audience’s sympathy in Satya doesn’t lie with the lead because of some past injustice. They are forced to confront and relate to Satya’s struggles as the story develops in front of them. As with Kripal (Chandrachud Singh) in Maachis, there is a universal relatability to the injustices which Satya faces at the start of the film.
There are instances in the film, especially the restaurant double date scene, which indicates how Satya could’ve led a ‘normal’ life under the right circumstances. And by the end, Satya has evolved enough to repent for his past wrongs. This is what makes the tragedy of Satya even more heart-wrenching.
In the end, Satya’s downfall is brought about by qualities that made him stand out in the criminal world: his ‘man of action’ tendencies and forthright nature. This, in fact, holds true for other characters as well. Chandar dies because he goes into an encounter spot alone to be able to show off his ‘manliness.’ Bhiku’s trust in Satya brings about his rise but also plays a role in his eventual demise.
In the end, Varma’s film is successful in what it sets out to do, to show us what the gangsters do beyond their crimes. To make us feel for them, but not without developing an understanding of their complex morality.
Read More: Raj Kapoor – Director’s Study
Satya (1998) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia
Satya (1998) Movie Cast: Urmila Matondkar, J. D. Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpayee, Paresh Rawal, Aditya Srivastava, Saurabh Shukla
Satya (1998) Movie Other Details: genre – Crime/Drama, Runtime – 2h 50m
Where to watch Satya
