Satyakam

Released in 1969
10/10
Genre- Drama
Main Cast: Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjeev Kumar
and Ashok Kumar
Music- Laxmikant-Pyarelal
Story- Narayan Sanyal
Screenplay: Bimal Dutta
Direction- Hrishikesh Mukherjee

BRIEF INTRODUCTION This is a story of an honest, straightforward man (an engineer) about his struggles and hardships in his personal and professional life. The events revolve around his innate nature of always speaking the truth. Satyakam is about a character who chooses not to compromise his honesty, his principles, values, and ethics for anything in life and always does what is morally right.

Satyaprirya Acharya the ideal character I found the character of Satyapriya Acharya (the lead character in the movie) very strong and inspirational. Despite encountering several obstacles and problems at almost every step, Satyapriya never stops and starts believing in his principles even more. It doesn’t matter to him if someone supports him or not. While dealing with a situation in the story, he comes across someone who tells him, “बेटा जिंदगी में तुम बहुत दुख देखोगे, बहुत कुछ बर्दाश्त करना पड़ेगा, लेकिन तुम्हारा ये दुख और दर्द ही तो हमारी आखरी उम्मीद है, इसी पर तो हमारे भविष्य की नीव रखी है…”

The Romance in the film The romantic angle also plays an important role in building the story and it is presented so beautifully in the screenplay that it does not supersede the main story but only adds to it in a very interesting and natural way.

The Last Part of the Film The last part of the film is both very emotional and surprising, especially the final scene when Satyapriya’s grandfather (played by Ashok Kumar) appreciates Satyapriya’s son for fearlessly speaking the truth and names him “Satyakam”.

Performances This is the best, most honest performance of Dharmendra’s career, he put his heart and soul into the character. The speech, the expressions, the emotions, this was a performance of a lifetime, his most iconic character to date. Sanjeev Kumar shined as Narendra, Satyapriya’s best friend, a true friend, who also happens to be the narrator of the film. Very natural performance by Sharmila Tagore as a supportive wife, also plays a crucial role in the story. Dadamoni (Ashok Kumar) played an interesting character in the film, in fact, Satyakam is incomplete without this character. The bond between Satyapriya and his grandfather has shown to be very special, very strong.

My Journey with the Film Even after watching a dozen films by Hrishida, I didn’t know about Satyakam for a long time. One day, while discussing Hrishida’s work with my mother, she asked me about Satyakam, and I had no clue about it. She then told me about this spectacular film and that Satyakam is the finest by Hrishida, a film of very high standards, and Dharmendra’s best performance to date. I got to know very recently that Satyakam was also my maternal grandfather’s favorite film, and now I think I know the reason behind it. My grandfather was a lot like Mr. Satyapriya Acharya (the lead character in the movie) in speaking the truth, following principles, and never compromising his morals and I am so proud of him.

Some memorable dialogues from the movie
“ईमानदारी कोई पॉलिसी नहीं, ईमानदारी धर्म है, ईमान है।”

“सत्त (सत्यप्रिय) रहा खरा पासे का सोना…”
पासे का खरा सोना, सोना ही रहता है, जेवर नहीं बनता,
जेवर बनाने के लिए थोड़ा खोट तो…”

“इस कहानी का न आदि है न अंत, जब तक इंसान रहेगा,
जब तक वो खुद को भगवान का प्रतिनिधि मानेगा,
तब तक ये सत्यकाम की कहानी चलती रहेगी ।
आयेंगे सत्यशरण, सत्यप्रिय, सत्यकाम…”

P.S. Satyakam won the National Award (1969) for Best Feature Film in Hindi.