Satya: Ab Tak Pachchees | A Cult Classic Turns 25

Satya: Ab Tak Pachchees | The Making Of A Cult Classic

In this OTTplay Original, we uncover the magic that made Satya a milestone in Indian cinema 25 years ago.

"SATYA was destined to happen, and destined to change the industry for good," says Manoj Bajpayee in Ab Tak Pachchees, OTTplay's documentary on the making of Ram Gopal Varma's genre-defining film, which turned 25 on July 3, 2023.

Based on Mumbai's underworld, gang wars and cop encounters, Satya brought to the fore a story steeped in realism. It was a film unlike any of its contemporaries, notably Karan Johar's blockbuster debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. While most films of the time — like Johar's — built a dreamy, escapist world for cinegoers, Satya bluntly showed the harsh reality of Bombay's killing fields and how it impacted the lives of everyday citizens. In a way, it shed light on a microcosm of the city that hadn't been acknowledged before.

With Satya, Varma also charted the language for gangster dramas in the Hindi film industry. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the cinematic treatment of violence and Mumbai's underbelly can today be viewed through a pre- and post-Satya lens, and there exists a clear distinction between the two.

Back in 1998, even the people involved in its making perhaps had little idea of exactly how far-reaching Satya's impact on the Indian cinematic and pop culture landscape would be. It cemented the careers of Anurag Kashyap, Manoj Bajpayee, Shefali Shah, Saurabh Shukla and a host of others, while underscoring the acclaim for RGV as a filmmaker. Urmila Matondkar and JD Chakravarthy would have their performances in Satya counted among their all-time bests.

In Ab Tak Pachchees, OTTplay goes behind the scenes to deconstruct the alchemy that produced Satya. How it shaped the grammar of cinema, and the collective Indian imagination. In the process, we unravel the complex interplay of factors that elevated a good movie to unequivocal greatness.

WATCH NOW

Satya: Ab Tak Pachchees is an OTTplay Original. Featuring interviews with Ram Gopal Varma, Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla, Anurag Kashyap, JD Chakravarthy, Apurva Asrani, Gerard Hooper and Barnali Ray Shukla, among others. Run time: 40 mins. More details on the team behind the documentary here. Reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to share your memories of watching Satya; we'd love to hear from you!

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