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Ram Gopal Varma’s 1998 film Satya was a significant moment in the Indian cinematic history as it changed the way mainstream Hindi films were presented to the audience, and it then served as the blueprint for many gangster films that came afterwards. In a recent interview, Sushant Singh recalled shooting for a scene with RGV and how he continued to perform even after the director said cut and that served as the base for Satya’s syntax.
In a chat with Digital Commentary, Sushant recalled his first day on the set of Satya and shared that he spent half a day in make-up trials as they were trying to figure out the placement of a scar on his face. He shared that when they ultimately started shooting, he was told about his character by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap, who were both working as writers on that film. As RGV called ‘action’, Sushant started performing, but since he did not say ‘cut’, Sushant continued to perform, which sparked an idea within the director.
He recalled, “It was my first day on Satya and we spent almost half a day on make-up because they were trying to figure out where to place the scar on my face. So I was sitting on the floor, near the plants, on some bricks, no one even offered me a chair. I was no one, no one knew me. I was a struggling actor playing a goon. Sourabh Shukala and Anurag Kashyap briefed me on the scene and said that he is a small-time goon and he has never even seen a knife in his life.”
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As Sushant started performing, he didn’t hear RGV saying ‘cut’ and based on what he had learnt, he continued to perform. “RGV didn’t say ‘cut’ and we had learnt that until you hear ‘cut’, you stay in character so I kept going on. Eventually, ‘cut’ was called and RGV was happy with it but he scolded me afterwards,” he said.
Sushant said that since he went overboard in the first take, his pyjamas tore and the assistants were worried how they would work with it in the second take. “There was another take after this and we got ready for that. The assistant, Taufiq bhai, gave me a gaali and said, ‘Who asked you to fall? Now where will I find another pyjama?’” he recalled with a laugh.
Sushant said that later, RGV spoke about the same incident in his book and credited this moment as something that served a “base for Satya.” He shared, “Later, in his book, RGV also wrote about it. He said, ‘Because I didn’t say ‘cut’, and the actor kept doing the scene, I got to see the possibilities of what can happen after ‘cut’ and before ‘action’ and this sort of made the base for Satya.”
