More than two decades later, it has become an iconic film. When it was released, the regular moviegoer would have been hard-pressed to recognise more than a couple of names in the film's credits. Today, it reads like an honour roll - Anurag Kashyap, Manoj Bajpayee, Vishal Bhardwaj, Saurabh Shukla.
Speaking to the people who made Satya a landmark film, Uday Bhatia tells the incredible story of how it all came together, how it drew from the gangster and street film traditions, and why it went on to become a modern classic.
Uday Bhatia is a film critic with Mint Lounge in Delhi. He has previously worked with Time Out Delhi and The Sunday Guardian. His writing has appeared in The Caravan, GQ, The Indian Quarterly, The Indian Express and The Hindu Business Line. He is the winner of the 2019 Ramnath Goenka Award in the Arts, Culture and Entertainment category.