Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma announced his next film Syndicate on Wednesday, touting it as his “biggest” film ever which would “wash away all the cinema sins” that he committed over the years following the release of his 1998 critically-acclaimed crime drama Satya.

“In Continuation to my Confession note on Satya film, I decided to make the biggest film ever. The film is called Syndicate. I took a vow to wash away all my cinema sins that I committed over the past few years with this just one single film called Syndicate,” reads Varma’s note on X.

Varma revealed that Syndicate will follow a terrifying criminal organisation which will not only threaten the existence of India but also expose the horrors that human beings are capable of.

“Syndicate film begins with a statement: Only man can be the most terrifying animal. This sets the stage for a chain of unimaginable but highly terrifying and intricately calculated events, orchestrated by a shadowy organisation called the Syndicate whose only goal is to replace India with a new India,” wrote Varma.

The movie will explore how deadly corporate gangs like D Company and lethal terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS group have eventually given way to a new, more diverse criminal conglomerate with members from various sectors including policing agencies, political parties, businesses and the armed forces, thus making it a true syndicate.

“Syndicate is a futuristic story not set in the far away future, but what can happen even tomorrow or next week...For example the entire world woke up to Al-Qaeda on September 11th 2001, but did not know its existence even on September 10th,” added Varma.

The film director also mentioned that details about the cast and release of the upcoming film will be announced soon.

Varma’s Satya, starring Manoj Bajpayee, J.D. Chakravarthy, Aditya Shrivastava and Paresh Rawal, was re-released in Indian theatres on January 17. The film marks the first instalment of the veteran filmmaker’s Gangster trilogy about organised crime in India. It inspired several other crime dramas like Company (2002) and D (2005) as well as a direct sequel Satya 2 (2013).

Varma’s last directorial venture was the 2024 biographical political thriller Vyuham, featuring Ajmal Ameer, Manasa Radhakrishnan and Vasu Inturi.