EXCLUSIVE: Ram Gopal Varma reveals that Manoj Bajpayee was paid peanuts for Satya: “Maybe he was paid a lakh. That also I doubt”; opens up on his viral tweet on Game Changer collections: “I keep doing such mischief once in a while” : Bollywood News
The classic crime film Satya (1998) re-released in cinemas on January 17. A day later, Ram Gopal Varma spoke exclusively with Bollywood Hungama about the film, the trivia that came out at the premiere of Satya on January 15 and a lot more.
EXCLUSIVE: Ram Gopal Varma reveals that Manoj Bajpayee was paid peanuts for Satya: “Maybe he was paid a lakh. That also I doubt”; opens up on his viral tweet on Game Changer collections: “I keep doing such mischief once in a while”
What made you re-release Satya?
It has nothing to do with me. It’s PVR’s initiative and they are the rights holders. They decided to get the film back in cinemas.
Do you recall that moment during the release of Satya that made you realize that the film has gone to another level?
The film had a very lukewarm opening on the first day. Then, on the second day, Bharat bhai Shah called me. He said, ‘I just spoke to my office people. They are saying that picture theatre se utregi nahin’! That was a heavy-duty statement for that time for a non-star cast film. Its tickets began to be sold in black. That’s when I realized it for the first time.
Satya collected Rs. 14.34 crores nett in India. Interestingly, while it collected a huge Rs. 9.28 crores in Mumbai circuit, it earned a mere Rs. 1.83 crores in Delhi/UP. The subsequent Mumbai-based films like Shootout At Lokhandwala, Vaastav and even your own film Company also overperformed in Mumbai while underperforming in the North. What do you think is the reason behind it?
I guess they didn’t know about the film. There was practically no promotion. In Mumbai, it caught like a wildfire as it’s a Mumbai-based story. By the time the people up North learned about Satya, it had already gone out of the theatres! Later on, when I would go to cities like Kanpur, they recognized me as Satya’s director as they saw the film on non-theatrical mediums. Hence, it’s not about them not liking. They simply didn’t know that a film named Satya existed (laughs).
However, it has been observed that folks in Mumbai tend to enjoy films set in Delhi and other parts of North but North moviegoers are little averse to films set in Mumbai or Maharashtra be it Satya or even Singham…
(Nods) I guess films work for different reasons. I don’t think you like Singham for the same reason you liked Satya.
The film was made for just Rs. 2.50 crores. How much was Manoj Bajpayee paid?
I don’t even remember. Maybe a lakh. That also I doubt!
Was Urmila Matondkar the highest-paid actor?
Yes, obviously.
At the Satya re-release premiere, Manoj Bajpayee revealed that Anurag Kashyap got drunk and badmouthed your past films. Instead of getting angry, you appreciated it. Do you recall what Anurag said about your films?
Not really. I was not really there. I doubt it happened in my presence.
Urmila Matondkar at the premiere said that she was upset that only one line ‘Geela Geela Paani’ made it to the final version. Hence, I wanted to ask you if any scene was deleted from the film?
Maybe 1 or 2 scenes didn’t make it to the final cut.
Shefali Shah played a memorable character in the film, but she was not seen in the climax, especially after Bhiku Mhatre’s death. Was her scene filmed and then deleted?
No. We never shot it. There was a discussion whether to show Shefali reacting to Manoj’s death. But I didn’t want it as the film was moving at such a fast pace. The narrative was rushing to the climax. There was no point putting a brake.
At the premiere, you narrated that background score composer Sandeep Chowta was not happy with the songs in the movie. He even remarked ‘Do you think if The Godfather had songs, would you have liked it?’. When he saw the film later on with the songs, did he have a change of opinion?
No. He was never happy with the songs being there, especially since he was not the music director (laughs)!
Are you and Manoj Bajpayee reuniting and will it be in the crime space?
Yes, I am doing something with him, but it’ll be a completely different genre.
And what about reuniting with Urmila Matondkar?
There are no such plans.
And would you like to make Satya 3?
Not really.
And I hope all is well after you tweeted that Game Changer’s collections are fake…
Yes, it’s all good. I keep doing such mischief once in a while (laughs).
More Pages: Game Changer Box Office Collection , Game Changer Movie Review
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