The present day Ram Gopal Varma is a man who prefers voicing his opinions over diplomacy. And that, unsurprisingly, has landed him in hot soup on more occasions than one.  His recent films may not have done well at the box office or even won over critics, but that doesn't bother him, "I make films that I believe in," the filmmaker proclaims.

In a candid interview with Sonil Dedhia, Varma talks about his upcoming film Department and why the underworld still excites him. He also talks about Nathalia Kaur and reasons out why item songs have become a necessity in films.

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.

Image: Amitabh Bachchan in Department. Inset: Ram Gopal Varma