Film: Department
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Sanjay Dutt, Vijay Raaz, Abhimanyu Singh, Madhu Shalini
Rating: *1/2

Dizzying shots, bizarre camera angles and a confusing storyline mark Ram Gopal Varma’s cop and underworld drama, Department. With Varma returning to his forte, (read underworld), one expected a gritty drama but what unfolds is a saga of gory violence and crass scenes.

The film opens with a cop Shiv Narayan (Rana Daggubati) killing an unarmed gangster and getting suspended. Enter Mahadev Bhosle (Sanjay Dutt), another cop who is told by his senior to form a separate department within the police force, that will tackle the goons without being shackled by the laws. In short, they can kill criminals at will. Mahadev enlists Shiv in the department and begins eliminating gangsters. The underworld is dominated by two rival gangs formed by Savtya (Vijay Raaz) and Mohammed Ghori, who we never get to see. Then there’s the gangster turned politician Sarjerao Gaikwad (Amitabh Bachchan), who is considered the most powerful among the three goons. In their fight to rid society of crime, Mahadev and Shiv decide to get into Sarjerao’s coterie. While Shiv idolises Mahadev, the latter is playinghis own con game.

Though the premise is interesting, and the second half does redeem it somewhat, the film lacks coherence. Also, many a times scenes end up being unintentionally funny, close-up shots of the characters drinking tea, tapping feet etc are incomprehensible.

Of the performances, though Daggubati looks ruggedly good, he looks as bewildered with the goings-on as the audience and definitely needs to work on his flat dialogue delivery. Dutt sleepwalks through the role but it is Bachchan, who makes the machiavellian Sarjerao lively and fun to watch. The girls, Anjana Sukhani and Laxmi Manchu have nothing to do and less said the better about Madhu Shalini who plays the gangster’s moll. Abhimanyu Singh as DK plays his part well. Vijay Raaz as Savtya is inadvertently hilarious.

The much hyped item number by Nathalia Kaur and the remixedseem forced. However, what needs mention are the dialogues which are quirky and raise a chuckle. Sample this: Sarjerao telling Shiv ‘Main illegally legal kaam karta hoon, legally illegal kaam nahi karta. Aur dono mein bahut pharak hai’. Go figure!