MUMBAI: Manoj Bajpayee, who is currently grabbing headlines for his recently released film, Bhaiyaa Ji, became a household name after his breakthrough movie, Satya, in 1998. Bajpayee, the recipient of India's fourth-highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri, had faced many struggles in his initial days in the Hindi film industry.
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma discovered him when he was casting for Daud in 1997 and later offered him a prominent role in Satya, Bhiku Mhatre, as we know it. But was it easy for him? Not really. Do you know that Satya was initially stalled? The Gangs of Wasseypur actor recently recalled the times when his breakthrough movie, Satya, was shut down for a week.
In a podcast interview with YouTuber Sushant Sinha, Manoj Bajpayee shared how he wasn’t quite confident about the 1998 crime drama. The Satya actor recalled that he didn’t inform anyone about the film, not even his close ones.
Talking about when he bagged Satya, Bajpayee said, “(Maine) kisi ko nahin bataya. Maine apne roommate ko bhi nahin bataya. Maine apne Mumbai ke doston ko bhi nahin bataya. Mujhe laga ye Bombay sheher hai ye industry badi ajeeb hai, ye film kabhi bhi band ho sakti hai, jo ki band hui. ( I didn’t tell anyone. I didn't tell my roommate. I didn't even tell my Mumbai friends. I felt that this is Bombay, this industry is quite strange. This film can be stalled at any time, which it was.)
Recalling how T-series music label founder Gulshan Kumar’s sudden death impacted his film, Satya, Manoj Bajpayee shared, “Satya ki shooting shuru hone ke paanch din baad, Gulshan Kumar ji ki hatya hui aur film ruk gayi. Kyunki film ke jo producer the unhone dar ke maare film band kardi (Five days after the shooting of Satya had begun, Gulshan Kumar was murdered and the film was halted. The producer was so scared that he stopped the film.)”
He added, “Gulshan Kumar ji ka jab murder hua it was a big thing, big event. Bahot badi ghatna thi aur ye Mumbai mafia pe film ban rahi thi toh producer itne dar gaye ki unhone film band kardi. Sabka career jo shuru hone waala tha usi samay ruk gaya (When Gulshan Kumar was murdered, it was a big thing, a significant event. It was a huge incident, and since this film was about the Mumbai mafia, the producers got so frightened that they shut down the film. Everyone's career, which was about to take off, had halted back then).”
Manoj Bajpayee further shared that, after a week, director Ram Gopal Verma collaborated with producer Bharat Shah to resume Satya.
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Directed by Ram Gopal Verma, Satya also starred J. D. Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar, Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Shrivastava, and others in key roles. Co-written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap, the film released on July 3, 1998. Speaking of Manoj Bajpayee, he is best known for films like Satya, Gangs of Wasseypur, Shool, Pinjar, and Kaun to name a few.
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Credits - Pinkvilla
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