Sushant Singh says he sat on bricks on Satya set, recalls Ram Gopal Varma's assistant abused him: ‘No one knew me’

Actor Sushant Singh recalled how during his debut film, Satya's shoot, he was not even offered a chair to sit and sat on the floor.

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya served as a blueprint for many gangster dramas in Bollywood. In a recent interview with Digital Commentary, Sushant Singh, who portrayed Bhiku Mhatre’s associate in the film, recalled shooting a scene with RGV and how he continued performing even after the director said cut. He also remembered not being offered a chair on the set and getting scolded by the director’s assistant.

Sushant Singh recalls how Ram Gopal Varma praised his performance in Satya.

Sushant Singh recalls BTS of Satya set

Sushant said he wasn’t even offered a chair on the Satya set as he was relatively unknown at the time. He said, “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 Shukla 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.”

He recalled that during the scene, Ram Gopal Varma didn’t say cut, and, as he had been taught in theatre, he continued staying in character until the director said so. When RGV finally called cut, he was impressed by Sushant’s performance.

Sushant then remembered being scolded later by RGV’s chief assistant because he had torn his pyjama in the first take. He said, “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?’”

About Satya

Helmed by Ram Gopal Varma and written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap, the film stars J.D. Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar, and Manoj Bajpayee, alongside Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Shrivastava, and Paresh Rawal in key roles. The film follows Satya (Chakravarthy), an immigrant who comes to Mumbai looking for a job, befriends Bhiku Mhatre (Bajpayee), and is drawn into the Mumbai underworld. Known for its gritty portrayal of Mumbai’s criminal world, the film became a benchmark for Indian gangster dramas.

About Sushant Singh

Sushant made his Bollywood debut with RGV’s Satya and gained critical acclaim for his role as the bandit Durgaa Narayan Chaudhary in the 2000 film Jungle. He further cemented his position in Hindi cinema with movies like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, and Lakshya. However, he became a household name after hosting the television show Savdhaan India.

Sushant will next be seen in the black comedy thriller Ek Chatur Naar. Directed by Umesh Shukla, the film stars Divya Khosla Kumar and Neil Nitin Mukesh in lead roles and is scheduled to release in theatres on 12 September.