In 1998’s iconic gangster film Satya, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, actor Manoj Bajpayee made his Bollywood debut. He portrayed Mumbai street thug Bhiku Mhatre, a character with cult popularity among Hindi film viewers over time.
Manoj has disclosed that he personally purchased Bhiku Mhatre’s clothing as the movie celebrates its 25th anniversary on July 3. Manoj claimed in a recent interview that he bought all of the costumes for his well-known character on Hill Road, a retail district in Bandra, Mumbai. He remembered how he completed the wardrobe in under 20,000.
In conversation with Film Companion, the actor revealed about his wardrobe for the film and said, “Those days, there was no costume designer. Ramu told me to get ₹20,000 from a production guy for the costumes. I went to Hill Road and shopped all the costumes there. I wanted really flashy shirts for Bhiku. And you won’t believe but I got all the clothes for ₹20,000.”
Nevertheless, Ramu and Shefali Shah, who portrayed Manoj’s wife in the film, suggested that he the former was street shopping then would have spent much less than ₹20,000.
During the same conversation, Shefali shared that she asked for old saris worn by Pyaari Mhatre to Ramu. “She won’t wear new saris. That’s why I told them to give me used saris. I wear a new one only during the scene where I talk about Jurassic Park. Because that’s a once-in-a-year event for her: to go watch a movie. In the song (Sapne Mein Milti Hai), I wore my own jewellery. It belonged to my grandmother who’s a Maharashtrian. That really helped me with not just the jewellery but also the role,” Shefali added.
Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap collaborated on the writing of Satya. In the movie, Saurabh also portrayed the iconic character of Kallu Mama. JD Chakravarthy, who played the title role, was joined by Urmila Matondkar, Aditya Srivastava, Paresh Rawal, Sanjay Mishra, Sushant Singh, and Makarand Deshpande in the ensemble cast.
