Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is returning to the crime-thriller genre with Police Company, a new film centred on Mumbai’s battle against organised crime during one of the most violent phases in the city’s underworld history. The project will be produced by T-Series and will feature actor Harshvardhan Rane in the lead role.

The film is inspired by the Mumbai Police squad that took on powerful criminal networks during the late 1990s and early 2000s. At the heart of the story will be a character based on former Mumbai Police officer Daya Nayak, one of the best-known figures associated with the city’s encounter-policing era.

Ram Gopal Varma returns to Mumbai’s underworld

Varma has built a significant part of his filmmaking identity around stories involving crime, organised gangs, police operations and the complex relationship between power and violence. With Police Company, he is once again turning his attention to Mumbai’s underworld, but this time from the perspective of the police force that confronted it.

The filmmaker’s announcement describes the movie as a story about a police institution that acquired extraordinary powers while responding to an increasingly dangerous criminal environment. The film’s central idea revolves around the transformation of a powerful police unit into an institution capable of challenging the influence of organised crime.

The project is set against a period when Mumbai witnessed intense rivalry among criminal groups and a major escalation in gang-related violence.

Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan’s underworld era

The story will revisit the turbulent period associated with Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, whose rivalry became an important chapter in Mumbai’s organised-crime history.

According to Varma’s description of the film’s background, Dawood Ibrahim consolidated his position after eliminating several rival groups and subsequently developed his criminal network into what became known as D Company. Dawood later moved to Dubai, while Chhota Rajan became an important figure within the organisation.

The relationship between the two eventually broke down, resulting in a major split. Their separation contributed to a power vacuum in Mumbai’s underworld, with several rival gangs attempting to expand their influence.

The resulting competition contributed to a period of heightened violence and instability in the city.

Mumbai Police’s response to organised crime

As criminal rivalries intensified, Mumbai Police created a special squad to confront the growing threat posed by organised gangs. The unit became associated with the city’s aggressive response to gang violence during the period.

Varma has said the squad was responsible for killing more than 300 gangsters between 1997 and 2004. The film is expected to explore this period through the experiences of the officers involved and the difficult circumstances in which they operated.

Rather than focusing solely on the criminal organisations, Police Company will examine the police machinery created to combat them. This shift in perspective could give the film a different approach from conventional Mumbai underworld dramas, which often place gangsters at the centre of the narrative.

Harshvardhan Rane to play Daya Nayak-inspired character

Harshvardhan Rane will headline the film as a character inspired by Daya Nayak. The former police officer became widely known for his association with Mumbai’s encounter squad and its operations against organised crime.

Rane’s role will require him to portray a police officer operating in an exceptionally volatile environment, where encounters with criminal gangs became a defining feature of the period.

The casting also marks a collaboration between Rane and Varma, with the actor taking on a character rooted in a real chapter of Mumbai’s policing history.

The filmmaker has also indicated that the movie will have a large ensemble cast. However, details about the other actors and their respective roles have not yet been revealed.

Why ‘Police Company’ is significant

The project is notable because it brings together two subjects that have long been associated with Varma’s filmmaking: Mumbai’s underworld and the police forces that fought it.

Varma previously explored the structure and personalities of organised crime in films such as Satya and Company. His crime dramas have frequently examined how criminal organisations operate, how rivalries develop and how individuals become trapped within systems built around power and violence.

Police Company appears to reverse that perspective by placing the police force at the centre of the story. The narrative is expected to explore how extraordinary circumstances can lead law-enforcement institutions to adopt increasingly aggressive methods.

The film’s setting also provides an opportunity to revisit a defining period in Mumbai’s recent history, when organised crime, police operations and gang rivalries became deeply intertwined.

Harshvardhan Rane’s upcoming projects

Police Company adds another major project to Harshvardhan Rane’s upcoming slate. The actor is also set to appear in several action-oriented films, including Uniform, directed by Milap Zaveri, and Silaa, directed by Omung Kumar.

He is also expected to feature opposite John Abraham in Force 3, directed by Bhav Dhulia.

With Police Company, Rane is taking on another physically and emotionally demanding role in the crime-action space, this time drawing inspiration from a real-life police figure associated with one of Mumbai’s most discussed law-enforcement periods.

What to expect from ‘Police Company’

While several details about the film remain under wraps, the announcement establishes its central setting: Mumbai during a period of intense underworld violence and the rise of a specialised police squad tasked with confronting powerful criminal networks.

The combination of real-world inspiration, organised-crime history and a police-centric narrative is likely to make Police Company one of Varma’s closely watched upcoming projects.

The film’s full cast, production schedule, release date and additional plot details are yet to be announced. For now, the project is positioned as a gritty crime drama examining the confrontation between Mumbai’s organised-crime networks and the police force created to challenge them.