Company is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language gangster film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and written by Jaideep Sahni. The film stars Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, Manisha Koirala, Antara Mali and Seema Biswas. It is the second film in the Indian Gangster trilogy, and a sequel to Satya (1998). Company follows Chandu, a henchman of a gangster named Malik, with whom he forms a rapport that eventually falls apart after tension arises between them.
Varma conceived the idea of the film after meeting a man named Haneef, who had been in prison for five years after the 1993 Bombay bombings and was a close aid of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in his D-Company. Haneef told Varma about the fallout between Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan. Varma also had much information which he used in the film, especially about police procedures he could not use in Satya since it was too much for one film. The film was made in several locations of Mumbai, Mombasa, Nairobi, Hong Kong, and Switzerland. Hemant Chaturvedi served as the director of photography while Chandan Arora edited the film.
Company was released on 12 April 2002 with a positive response. It was commercially successful, grossing ₹25.02 crores against its production budget of ₹9.5 crores. It was screened at Austin Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, and the Fribourg International Film Festival. The film won six awards at the 48th Filmfare Awards, including the Best Supporting Actor for Mohanlal and Best Male Debut for Oberoi, Critics Best Actor for Devgn and Critics Best Actress for Koirala.
Plot
Chandrakant 'Chandu' Nagre joins the Mumbai underworld; he gradually learns the trade and increases the gang's profits, leading to his affinity with Malik, the leader of the gang. Malik and Chandu kill their rivals from another gang, Saeed and his brother Anis in the rear seat of a car. Malik goes on a bloody rampage, killing all of his opponents to take control of the underworld. Inspector Rathod, who once tortured and abused Chandu in jail, is killed with Malik's permission. Malik and Chandu argue during the execution of a contract killing; Chandu stops the deliberate vehicle crash and falls in Malik's favour.
The contract was taken out by a politician who tries to use Malik's gang to eliminate a popular candidate for the Home Minister's post. The assassination, a staged vehicle collision, takes place in spite of Chandu's objection after Malik, not relying on Chandu anymore, gives direct orders. The rift between Chandu and Malik widens. The Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police, Veerappalli Sreenivasan, uses the rift to bring the mafia under control. Chandu and Malik become bitter enemies. After Chandu's retaliation for the assassination of Warsi, a lieutenant and Chandu's lifelong friend, two factions of Mumbai's once-powerful gang Company begin a full-scale war. Malik and Chandu kill as many members of their opponents' gangs as possible. Sreenivasan is criticised, but he and his men know that since many gang members are being killed, this war is making it easier for his department to dispose of Malik and Chandu.
The war results in an intense chase in Kenya, during which Malik hires assassins to kill Chandu, who is severely injured but survives. Sreenivasan persuades Chandu to come back to Mumbai and fight his war with Malik by helping the police bring the mafia under control. Chandu kills the politician who ordered the contract killing, in prison. Chandu and Malik come to a truce, but Chandu never withdraws his order to Koda Singh, one of his aids, to kill Malik. At the same time, Koda kills Malik at point-blank range in Hong Kong and is immediately arrested. After the assassination, Sreenivasan notifies Chandu, who is shocked at this news. Chandu then spends the rest of his life in prison after being persuaded by Sreenivasan to surrender.