Manoj Bajpayee recalls 'Satya's 'depressing' halt post Gulshan Kumar's murder
Manoj Bajpayee recently shared his experience of the unexpected halt in the production of his landmark film Satya, following the murder of T-Series's founder Gulshan Kumar. Kumar was gunned down by the underworld in August 1997. In a conversation with YouTuber Sushant Sinha, Bajpayee revealed that he had kept his involvement in Satya under wraps, fearing its cancelation. His apprehensions came alive when five days into the shooting, Kumar was killed and production was stopped due to fear.
Bajpayee described uncertainty and frustration during 'Satya's halt
Bajpayee described the period of halted production as a time filled with uncertainty. He stated, "The film was halted because the producer got scared. Gulshan Kumar's murder was a huge incident in the industry, and we were making a movie about the Mumbai mafia. The producer got so scared, he shut it down. Our careers, which were just about to begin, were brought to an abrupt halt." The film was directed by Ram Gopal Varma.
Finally, production re-started after RGV found a new financier
Bajpayee added, "After about a week, Varma found Bharat Shah (financier). And then filming began again. That one week was very difficult for us all. None of us had any idea what to do." "That uncertainty was very depressing and frustrating. I had decided that I would not lose hope until Ram Gopal Varma says, 'It's over. This film won't be made now.' But, after eight days, we got the good news that we are restarting the film."
How Kumar's murder shaped up 'Satya'
In his book Guns & Thighs, Varma reflected upon the incident, "If Gulshan Kumar woke up at 7 o'clock, then at what time would the killer have woken up? Did he tell his mom to wake him up because he had a shooting to carry out?" "Then it suddenly struck me that you always hear about gangsters only when they either kill or die. But what do they do in between? That was the thought which eventually resulted in Satya."
Know more about 'Satya'
Satya catapulted Bajpayee's career and established him as a dependable, bankable star in the industry, earning him a National Award for Best Supporting Actor. While it has served as inspiration for many filmmakers around the country, it also accorded Varma the confidence to breathe life into his ambitious gangster trilogy, constituting Company (2002) and D (2005). The film co-starred Urmila Matondkar and Saurabh Shukla, and is streaming on YouTube, SonyLIV, and Amazon Prime Video.
