'Satya'@25: Saurabh Shukla says Ram Gopal Varma's film viewed gangsters with non-judgmental approach

Mumbai: The Mumbai underworld has always fascinated filmmakers and when Ram Gopal Varma decided to capture the normal life of gangsters in "Satya", empathy was at the core of the story, says writer-actor Saurabh Shukla.

Considered a milestone in contemporary Indian cinema, "Satya", which clocked 25 years on Monday, was the product of Varma's extensive research on gangsters and the underworld. He eventually roped in first-time writers - Anurag Kashyap and Shukla to pen the screenplay.

The film explored the underbelly of the world of crime through well-etched characters of Satya (J D Chakravarthy), Bhiku Mhatre (Manoj Bajpayee) and Kallu Mama (Shukla).

Shukla said they aimed at showing these "misunderstood bad guys" without being judgemental.

"The whole approach was to look at the characters as human beings and not by their profession and not try to be judgmental about what they do... They have some good parts, some bad parts. It's a mixed bag of things, which is a normal life. They can be in any profession, they could be on the side of law or can be outlaws.

"But, as a film, you always focus on the character and you see the journey. It is actually empathy towards which all scriptwriters and filmmakers work. There is no blanket rejection or acceptance. When anything happens in that journey, audiences connect with the character. They go along with it and feel for it," the veteran actor told PTI in an interview.

Kashyap was already part of the film as one of the writers when he brought Shukla on board primarily as a writer, he recalled.

The 60-year-old, who back then was trying to make a mark in the film industry as an actor after moving to Mumbai from Delhi, said even though he wasn't very interested in writing for "Satya", he couldn't resist the bonus opportunity to play Kallu Mama.

"When Ramu (Varma) said he needed another writer, a fresh perspective in the film, Anurag suggested my name. Ramu told me he wants me to write it and if I didn't write it, then I was not going to be a part of the film as Kallu Mama... That's how I came into the writing team," Shukla recounted.

Creating characters on paper, however, was more challenging than playing the role of the alcoholic yet affable gangster Kallu Mama, said the actor-writer.

"It's always difficult because you are entering a world which you're going to build. There is an idea but a lot is unknown. You don't know whether you will be able to capture the world correctly, or in this case, the director's mind because Ramu had a vision. We were trying to work around that. I would say, it was a great time for us. We were excited as writers and actors," he said.

Shukla and Kashyap are officially credited as writers on "Satya", but the former said the film was a joint effort by the whole team, including Varma and the cast.

"When people ask me how many people wrote 'Satya'? I always say four... Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla, then director Ram Gopal Varma, and the actors," Shukla said, adding that he and Kashyap were always present on set as the actors improvised a lot during the shoot.

He also acknowledged Varma for being "porus" and approachable throughout the film's making.

"He chose the best, so he had a very tender personality during 'Satya'. After that, I have not worked with him. But we kept talking." In 2018, Shukla and the director celebrated 20 years of "Satya" over dinner, the actor said.

"Five years ago, Ramu called and said, 'Would you join me for dinner? Let's celebrate 20 years'. So, it was just me, my wife, Ramu and Makrand Deshpande. The four of us just sat down and we reminisced... 'Satya' was great, we had a memorable time making it. Ramu was absolutely great in that film," he said.

"Satya" also starred Urmila Matondkar, Shefali Shah, Paresh Rawal, Govind Namdeo and Aditya Srivastav. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, with lyrics by Gulzar.

Matondar, who played the demure Vidya opposite Chakravarthy's unpredictable Satya, shared a few stills from the movie on Twitter to mark the 25th anniversary.

"Twenty-five years of 'Satya' and of playing simple naive chawl girl Vidya at the peak of a scintillating glamorous career. But no what did that have to do with 'acting'.. so no awards and not even nominations. So sit down and don't talk to me about favouritism and nepotism," she wrote.

Bajpayee and Shah, the fan-favourite couple of Bhiku and Pyaari, posted clips from the film on Twitter.

"Satya" proved to be a career breakthrough for most of the people associated with the film, including Shukla.

"Whatever you see today, 'Satya' has a lot to do with it... People started looking (at me) in a different way. They never called me just for a laugh, they started calling me for characters which were substantial, had depth, or more possibility to perform," the veteran actor said.