Un nuovo film di Ram Gopal Varma con Amitabh Bachchan è sempre un evento. Il vulcanico regista ha regalato alla superstar una collana di ruoli indimenticabili (Sarkar, Nishabd), da qui l'eccitazione che accompagna la distribuzione di Department. Nel cast anche Sanjay Dutt e Rana Daggubati. In Department RGV ha utilizzato una miriade di videocamere in simultanea, alcune localizzate nei posti più impensati, e ha chiesto agli attori di sentirsi il personaggio sempre addosso e di agire come lui, in piena libertà sulla scena. A ciak ultimato, sono state selezionate le inquadrature migliori. Big B ha dichiarato il suo entusiasmo per questa tecnica nuova e stimolante. Vi propongo i video dei brani Kammo e Mumbai police, composti da Bappi Lahiri, e di Dan Dan Cheeni, item song firmata da Dharam Sandeep (ispirata alla canzone Aasai Nooru Vagai, inclusa nella colonna sonora del film tamil Adutha Varisu del 1983 interpretato da Rajinikanth). Trailer. Vi segnalo anche I am almost a gangster myself, intervista concessa da RGV a Sonil Dedhia, e pubblicata da Rediff il 9 maggio 2012:
'You recently tweeted that Amitabh Bachchan's role in Department is that of Nasty Sarkar. How similar is it to the character he played in Sarkar?
The hairstyle is similar. He is still playing a political leader though the background is different. And there is a certain intrigue in his character and from the context of the film you cannot make out whether he is a villain or a positive character. His way of speaking is very crass compared to Sarkar. That's the reason I came up with the title Nasty Sarkar.
Recently there have been a lot of cop films. How does Department stand out?
If my film Company dealt with politics within an underworld organisation, this film deals with politics within the police department. This particular department is specially formed to tackle crime situations in Mumbai. So what happens among the members of the department is what the film is about. Primarily, it is about the relationship between characters played by Sanjay Dutt and Rana Daggubati.
You have worked many times with Amitabh Bachchan. Have you found it difficult to convince him to play a role?
Fortunately, he trusts me a lot as a director. So far it hasn't happened that I've approached him for a role and he has said no. Sometimes the films have worked and sometimes they haven't, but somewhere he knows my commitment is there.
Which is Amitabh Bachchan's best performance according to you?
I think his best performance has come in Nishabd. People reacted to the overall film, but as a director I reacted to his performance. (...)
How would you define yourself?
I am almost a gangster myself. Just because I didn't have the guts to become one for real, I became a filmmaker to make films on gangsters (Laughs). (...)
You work with stars and newcomers. Do you handle them differently?
Stars come with an image attached to them. They come with a certain background. You can only build up from the characters they have done in the past. A newcomer becomes a separate character; you can make him more real compared to a star. You can make a Satya with newcomers but for a Sarkar you need a star'.
Aggiornamento del 27 maggio 2012: nelle settimane precedenti la distribuzione, era trapelata la notizia di dissapori fra il regista Varma e l'attore (e coproduttore del film) Sanjay Dutt. Department è stato pesantemente bocciato da pubblico e critica, e, per la prima volta nella sua carriera, RGV non si assume la responsabilità dell'insuccesso di un suo lavoro.
