'Mumbai Ka King Kaun?' Manoj Bajpayee celebrates 25 years of Satya with throwback video

Manoj Bajpayee and JD Chakravarthy in stills from Satya

One of the most iconic roles in Manoj Bajpayee's career is that of Bhiku Mhatre in the 1998 film Satya. Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, Satya was a gritty, raw take on the underbelly of the Mumbai crime scene.

As the movie completed 25 years of release today (July 3), Bajpayee shared a video which had glimpses of his character from the film, including the memorable scene where he declares himself as the 'King' of Mumbai, recounting his achievements.

"MUMBAI KA KING KAUN? #25YearsOfSatya," he wrote in the caption, tagging Ram Gopal Varma, Anurag Kashyap, Shefali Shah, Urmila Matondkar and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Actress Shefali Shah, who starred in the film as Bajpayee's wife, also shared a video montage of glimpses from the film, including the song 'Sapne Mein Milti Hai', which still remains a fan favourite.

Spanning over two hours, Satya introduced a number of new faces on and off camera, including the likes of Anurag Kashyap, Apurva Asrani and Bajpayee himself, who had never worked in any film as one of the main leads before.

Director Ram Gopal Varma discovered Bajpayee when he was casting for Daud (1997), a comedy film, where he had a supporting role. Following the completion of the filming, Varma expressed his regret for offering Bajpayee a minor role. He then promised Bajpayee a prominent role in his next film.

Satya (1998), a crime drama, was their next film together. In the film, Bajpayee played gangster Bhiku Mhatre, who accompanies the title character (played by JD Chakravarthy) to form their nexus in the Mumbai underworld. The film follows Satya (JD Chakravarthy), an immigrant who comes to Mumbai looking for a job, befriends Bhiku Mhatre and is drawn into the Mumbai underworld.

Urmila, who played the role of the lead character's love interest, tweeted, "25yrs of Satya n of playing simple naive chawl girl Vidya at the peak of an scintillating glamorous career. But NO what did that have to do with "acting".. so no awards n not even nominations. So sit down n don't talk to me about favouritism n nepotism.. #jastsaying (sic)."

Varma initially planned to make an action film, but decided to make a film focusing on felonies after meeting some criminals. He hired Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla to write the film, and opted to use lesser-known actors. The soundtrack and score were composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and Sandeep Chowta, respectively, while the lyrics were written by Gulzar. Satya was mostly shot in the real slums of Mumbai.