Product: Satya (1998) (Hindi Film / Bollywood Movie / Indian Cinema DVD)
Rating: 4.0
Memorable & Gritty Indian Gangster Movie
Satya marks a serious departure from the fun and upbeat Bollywood romance movies that I'm used to. It's a essentially a gritty look at the criminal underworld in Mumbai, with a great cast to keep it believeable.J.D. Chakravarthi's portrayal of the lead character Satya is great, but the standout actor in this film is easily Manoj Bajpai. Bajpai is charismatic as crime boss Bhiku Mhatre, in the best acting performance I've ever seen in Hindi cinema.From what I understand, Director Ram Gopal Varma had initially envisioned this movie without any musical scenes, but had to include them to make sure the film would be distributed. I thought the musical numbers were decent, though I still believe that this would have been a better crime drama without them. Otherwise, Sandeep Chowta's score works great for this dark movie about the seedier side of life in Mumbai.I'm not from India, so I personally can't attest to the authenticity of the film's portrayal of crime and police brutality in Mumbai. I can only say that this was an excellent crime drama with an amazing cast, and one of the best gangster movies ever shot in any language.