Although Satya is known for its realistic depiction of the Mumbai underworld, Varma has often said that his films do not glorify crime.[65] In his book, Studying Indian Cinema, Omar Ahmed wrote that unlike American crime films (where success is measured by the accumulation of wealth), Satya is about individual survival; Ahmed called it a "post-modern gangster film."[66][67] The title character's background remains a mystery throughout the film, and his and other characters' location in the city is unspecified.[68] In her book Bombay Cinema: An Archive of the City, Ranjani Mazumdar wrote that Satya's Mumbai resembles a "documentary montage of claustrophobic spaces" with "documentary-styled visuals".[46]