Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati, Vijay Raaz, Anjana Sukhani, Abhimanyu Singh, Madhu Shalini
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Genre: Action
Runtime: 2hrs. 30 mins.
In Theatres: May 18, 2012
15 Reviews | Avg Rating: 1.5/5
CNN IBN: By Rajeev Masand
Rating: 1.5/5
Just shy of two hours and thirty minutes, 'Department' is tedious and boring and doesn't have any of the originality of 'Satya' and 'Company', or even the occasional tension of 'Sarkar'. Dutt delivers his lines like he's reading out the phone book, and Bachchan hams it up no end as the gangster-turned-minister. It's only Rana Dagubatti who approaches the film with any earnestness whatsoever. It's a lazy, indulgent film that tests your threshold for pain.Read Full Review
Bollywood Hungama: By Taran Adarsh
Rating: 2/5
DEPARTMENT is soaked in high-voltage drama and action, with a consistent undercurrent of tension. As a matter of fact, there's an overdose of action in the film, though, I must admit, a few action pieces, especially the final showdown between Sanju and Rana, is deftly executedOn the whole, DEPARTMENT is neither novel, nor experimental, but a return to the tried and tested formula. Disappointing!Read Full Review
Times Of India: By Srijana Mitra Das
Rating: 2/5
Like other Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) films, Department has an idea - a force to finish the underworld by stepping over the law's boundaries. But like other RGV flicks, this one also blasts itself out of the water, leaving you savouring jarring camerawork, flimsy acting and over-the-top violence. Losing the plot and three strong stars, Department shoots itself in the foot..…..Read Full Review
Zoom Review Show: By Omar Qureshi
Rating: 2.5/5
Koimoi: By Mrigank Dhaniwala
Rating: 2/5
What’s Good: The raw action; a few scenes with Amitabh Bachchan.What’s Bad: The ordinary and boring screenplay; the poor video quality and weird camera angles that distract the viewer; the loud background score.Verdict: Department is a below-average fare..........Read Full Review
Rediff: By Raja Sen
Rating: 1/5
Department is an utter waste. The director who showed us how to film violence is now sucking basic action scenes of their dynamism, leaving them dry and dead, but filming his movie's carcass from multiple angles...…..Read Full Review
Yahoo: By Kunal Guha
Rating: minus 1/5
RGV worshippers ready to throng multiplexes to catch this tickling thriller must be equally prepared to feature in an upcoming episode of ‘Satyamev Jayate’. This is because the ace filmmaker’s camera angles could leave them spooned, smooched, thumped to the ground and splashed under a water cooler. Infact RGV’s decidedly jerky camera takes us where no man, woman or Jadoo has ever been.......Read Full Review
NDTV: By IANS
Rating: 3/5
The world of Department is anarchic, destructive and apocalyptic. Department tells a virile story with no patience for sappy humbug. It's not meant for those who think lovers laughing their way into death, as they did in Ishaqzaade, are the last words in ruinous relationships. In Department, the characters share a far more intimate bonding with their guns than with their friends........Read Full Review
Zee News: By Zeenews Bureau
Rating: 1/5
If you’d thought ‘Phoonk’ and ‘Aag’ were the worst of films to have come out of the Ram Gopal Varma camp, it’s time you rethought about it. ‘Department’ takes the ridiculous story-telling skills of the filmmaker a notch above his previous ones. Or below, for that matter.Watch ‘Department’ if you have been missing your headaches for a long time......Read Full Review
Indian Express: By Shubhra Gupta
Rating: 1/5
If it’s been hard to see any trace of the old RGV in the new RGV, this film has the latter shamelessly tapping into the few good things Mr Varma once made. Dagubatti should go far, if he ever gets out of RGV films, and Bachchan Sr can still act everyone under the table, be it playing good bad or bad good. Dutt has got so used to sleepwalking through his roles he doesn’t even bother waking up fully.......Read Full Review
Hindustan Times: By Anupama Chopra
Rating: 2/5
The hazy shots, zero lighting and jerky movements made me dizzy. Varma has described Department as "Quentin Tarantino meets Prabhudeva." I honestly couldn't find flashes of either. To me, it felt more like pedestrian Ram Gopal Varma. We are still waiting for him to return to form......Read Full Review
DNA: By Blessy Chettiar
Rating: 0/5
“I used five matchbox-sized digital cameras to shoot Department… I didn’t know which camera is capturing what…,” said Ram Gopal Varma in an interview, adding that he’d figure it out on the editing table. We wished to figure out a lot more sitting through this extreme pain and abuse-inducing film on the senses. We should have known what we were signing up for. Its a perfect recipe for head ache...…Read Full Review
Dainik Bhaskar: By Daily Bhaskar
Rating: 1.5/5
Poor script, bad screenplay, meaningless direction along with cinematography and music make Department a disaster.On the whole, Department falls flat at almost every department; so, needless to say, it's a flick which can easily be given a miss.....…Read Full Review
One India: By Nabanita Roy
Rating: 1.5/5
Ram Gopal Varma's Department is yet another disappointment for the viewers. Department is a gripping action drama, narrating a terrifying power struggle story. Though the movie has big star casts like Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt, it fails to impress us......Read Full Review
Bollywood Life: By Deboshree Ghosh
Rating: 1/5
Department, indicates the sheer laziness in coming up with something more intelligent. This Amitabh Bachchan-Sanjay Dutt-Rana Daggubati-starrer is a remake of his own cult gangster flick, Company. The maverick filmmaker has been talking about his unique concept called ‘rogue filming’ and that’s what provides you with most of the laughs, and neck aches and headache......Read Full Review
