Our Bureau
Mumbai
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is set to return to the crime genre with Police Company, an upcoming film inspired by the life and career of former Mumbai Police encounter specialist Daya Nayak. Actor Harshvardhan Rane will headline the project, portraying a character based on Nayak, whose career became closely associated with Mumbai’s encounter policing era.
The film is expected to explore the operations of Mumbai’s notorious encounter squad, which was active during the city’s intense underworld battles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Varma has described the police unit as an establishment that was even more dangerous than the underworld syndicate depicted in his earlier film D Company. Reports state that the squad was involved in encounters that killed more than 300 gangsters between 1997 and 2004.
Rane’s involvement was revealed through the film’s announcement and his first-look test glimpse. His appearance reportedly draws from Daya Nayak, one of the most recognised names associated with Mumbai’s encounter specialists. Nayak’s rise from a police officer to a high-profile figure in the city’s crime-fighting narrative has previously attracted cinematic attention.
Police Company marks another return to the territory that has long defined Varma’s filmmaking. The director has previously explored Mumbai’s criminal underworld through films including Satya, Company and D Company, as well as police and encounter-based narratives.
The project is backed by T-Series and is expected to feature a larger ensemble cast, with further details about the supporting actors and production schedule awaited.
With Police Company, Varma appears set to revisit the violent intersection of organised crime and law enforcement in Mumbai, this time shifting the focus from gangsters to the police officers who became central figures in the city’s battle against the underworld.