Proclaiming to the world that he is Mumbai's King was Manoj Bajpayee's Bhiku Mhatre from Satya, but when he was offered the role, the actor was sad as he was more tempted to play the titular character. Satya, which released on July 3, 1998, changed the careers of writers Anurag Kashyap who co-wrote the film with actor Saurabh Shukla and most importantly, Bajpayee who shot to fame with his portrayal of Mhatre, a gangster.

"Initially it was a deal that I would be playing the title role but he said 'I don't need an actor for the title role, I need someone who has a great presence.' I was very sad that he doesn't think I have presence. I now thank God, he gave me the right role to work on," Bajpayee told PTI.