Proclaiming
to
the
world
that
he
is
'Mumbai's
King'
was
Manoj
Bajpayee's
Bhiku
Mhatre
from
Satya,
but
when
he
was
offered
the
role,
the
actor
was
sad
as
he
was
more
tempted
to
play
the
titular
character.
Satya,
which
released
on
July
3,
1998,
changed
the
careers
of
writers
Anurag
Kashyap
who
co-wrote
the
film
with
actor
Saurabh
Shukla
and
most
importantly,
Bajpayee
who
shot
to
fame
with
his
portrayal
of
Mhatre,
a
gangster.
"Initially
it
was
a
deal
that
I
would
be
playing
the
title
role
but
he
said
'I
don't
need
an
actor
for
the
title
role,
I
need
someone
who
has
a
great
presence.'
I
was
very
sad
that
he
doesn't
think
I
have
presence.
I
now
thank
God,
he
gave
me
the
right
role
to
work
on," Bajpayee
told
PTI.
"...
Everybody
used
to
feel
so
excited
about
my
performance
but
I
wasn't
sure
if
we
are
doing
it
right.
That
feeling
of
unsureness
was
always
looming
large
because
no
one
of
the
film
industry
was
making
this
kind
of
a
film,"
he
adds.
Bajpayee
charts
the
journey
of
how
he
bagged
the
film,
made
his
own
costume
for
Satya
and
to
the
day
how
he
nearly
died
when
he
went
to
watch
the
film.
The
49-year-old
actor
had
a
cameo
in
Shekhar
Kapur's
Bandit
Queen,
but
nothing
seemed
to
have
changed
in
his
career
post
this
1994
critically-acclaimed
film.
But
as
fate
would
have
it,
things
changed,
when
Kanan
Iyer
was
casting
for
small
parts
requested
Bajpayee
to
meet
Varma
as
Ramu
had
the
reputation
of
making
a
career
out
of
small
roles.
When
Bajpayee
first
met
the
director,
he
was
in
for
a
surprise,
as
the
filmmaker
wanted
to
work
with
him
after
Bandit
Queen.
The
actor
recalls
that
Varma
said
he
would
only
work
with
him
on
condition:
"He
(Varma)
said
you
have
to
introduce
me
to
all
the
new
talents
that
I
am
not
aware
of.
That
job
was
given
to
me.
"That's
how
Anurag
came
into
the
picture
and
then
Saurabh.
Later
on,
Anurag
took
up
the
job
to
find
new
talent."
Bajpayee
says
he
looked
for
inspirations
around
him
to
add
nuances
to
his
character.
For
example,
Bajpayee
drew
Bhiku's
accent
from
his
cook,
who
was
from
Kohlapur.
The
inspiration
for
the
printed
shirts
came
from
the
local
goons
he
saw
in
his
hometown.
Besides
this,
the
actor
gathered
his
own
costume
from
Rs
25,000
given
to
him
by
the
production.
"Manish
Malhotra
designed
for
Urmila
Matondkar
and
some
of
the
female
actors.
He
was
a
big
designer
and
most
of
us
had
done
our
own
thing
because
we
were
fairly
new."
Money
was
a
concern
for
the
makers
and
led
to
the
film
being
shelved
just
three
days
after
the
shooting
started
and
Bajpayee
reveals
'nobody
knew
the
reason'
behind
the
development.
"It
was
between
Ramu
and
the
earlier
presenter.
But
it
was
around
the
time
when
Gulshan
Kumar
was
shot
dead
and
the
film
was
shelved.
Then
Bharat
Shah
came
into
the
picture
and
got
ready
to
present
the
film.
"Till
the
time
the
shooting
resumed
--
it
took
another
10-15
days
--
we
thought
the
film
is
shelved
and
our
career
is
back
to
zero.
It
was
a
difficult
period.
But
Ramu
was
there,
making
sure
it
happens," he
recalls.
Finance
was
not
the
only
obstacle.
Bajpayee
says,
as
the
makers
were
ready
with
the
film,
distributors
started
demanding
songs,
as
that
was
trend
back
then.
"The
distributors
started
demanding
songs
because
in
those
days
making
a
film
without
songs
was
difficult.
So
Anurag
and
I
lobbied
for
Vishal
Bhardwaj
and
then
Gulzar
sir
came
on
board.
We
shot
the
songs
later."
Two
of
the
songs,
'Sapne
mein
milti
hai'
and
'Goli
maar'
went
on
to
become
extremely
popular.
"'Goli
maar'
was
shot
in
six
hours
on
the
last
day
of
our
shoot.
We
actually
had
beer.
It
was
flowing
on
the
floor
and
few
of
the
shots
were
filmed
by
Anurag,"
he
says.
Within
a
week
of
its
release,
Satya
was
declared
a
disaster
with
barely
15-20
people
turning
up
in
the
theatre.
Suddenly,
the
film
started
picking
up,
as
some
cinema
halls
began
screening
the
film
again
after
it
was
taken
down.
"I
was
asked
to
visit
a
theatre
in
Dadar.
I
knew
people
were
dancing
inside
the
theatre
and
were
leaving
after
Bhiku's
death.
In
interval,
people
got
to
know
that
'Bhiku
Mhatre'
is
outside,
so
they
gathered
to
see
me.
"They
(owners)
had
to
stop
the
film
screening.
The
theatre
staff
was
there
who
came
for
my
rescue
otherwise
I
would
have
died
of
suffocation."
Looking
back,
Bajpayee
says
through
"Satya",
Varma
not
only
changed
the
"grammar
of
filmmaking",
but
also
boosted
the
career
of
those
involved.
"Before
criticising
Ramu
for
his
recent
films,
we
should
close
our
eyes
and
ask:
Who
is
the
reason
why
all
of
us
are
here?
People
who
were
associated
with
the
film
have
today
gotten
busy.
"But
you
need
the
stubbornness
of
RGV
to
shoot
a
film
with
complete
newcomers,
at
a
time
when
new
ideas
weren't
welcomed.
All
of
us
are
here
because
of
one
man's
guts
and
conviction:
that
is
Ram
Gopal
Varma."