Ep 241: The Importance of Satya

The gangster film and the city film are two genres that took a while to evolve in Bollywood. Uday Bhatia joins Amit Varma in episode 241 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain why Ram Gopal Varma's Satya was a seminal moment, shaped by what came before it, and changing the course of Hindi cinema. Also check out: 1. Satya -- Ram Gopal Varma. 2. Bullets Over Bombay -- Uday Bhatia. 3. Uday Bhatia's Twitter, Blog and author page at Mint Lounge. 4. Jai Arjun Singh Lost It at the Movies -- Episode 230 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. Greil Marcus, Lester Bangs, David Fricke and Peter Guralnick. 6. Lester Bangs on The Stooges. 7. Pauline Kael on Bonnie and Clyde. 8. Pauline Kael, Lester Bangs and the Twitter Age -- Uday Bhatia. 9. Have You Seen?: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films -- David Thomson. 10. Risen From the Depths -- Uday Bhatia on Neecha Nagar. 11. The First Picture Show -- Uday Bhatia. 12. So Many Cinemas -- BD Garga. 13. Jawaharlal Nehru : Rebel and Statesman -- BR Nanda. (More easily available in this omnibus volume.) 14. My Friend Sancho -- Amit Varma. 15. Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai -- Podcast co-hosted by Subrat Mohanty. 16. O Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar -- Song from CID. 17. The vlogs of Devdutt Dani, Mohammad Salim Khan and Satya Saggar. Films mentioned in this episode: 1. Early Indian crime films: Kismet, Pocket Maar, Awaara. 2. Early Indian noir by Navketan films and others: Baazi, CID, Aar Paar, Kala Bazaar. 3. Some post-noir Bollywood: Teesri Manzil, Johny Mera Naam, Blackmail, Zanjeer, Deewar. 4. Ardh Satya. 5. A selection from the 1980s: Vidhaata, Karz, Arjun, Tezaab, Parinda, Hathyaar. 6. Films showcasing Bombay or Bambaiyya: Taxi Driver, Aar Paar, Aakhri Khat, Bombay to Goa, Gharaonda, Guddi, Salaam Bombay and much of the work of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. 7. Two key precursers: Is Raat Ki Subaah Nahin, Bandit Queen. 8. Ram Gopal Varma's key past films: Rangeela, Shiva, Daud, Company. 9. Miscellaneous mentions: Raakh, Haasil, Munna Bhai MBBS, Gangs of Wasseypur, Aankhon Dekhi. 9. Uday Bhatia's recommendations: China Town, 27 Down, Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan, Sehar. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader, FutureStack and The Social Capital Compound. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Please subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! And check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Release date

Audiobook: September 6, 2021