Sanjay Dutt has played a cop many times over. But this time it`s different. In both Ram Gopal Varma`s `Department` and Anand Kumar`s `Zilla Ghaziabad` he plays a cop based on real-life characters. In fact he`s so keen on getting it right that last week he asked both the filmmakers to show him the rushes to see how real he looks on screen.

Dutt isn`t taking any chances. He wants both the parts to look authentic. Apparently Dutt has been doing backgrounders on both the real-life cops and wants them played as differently as possible.

Says a source: "Since both the real-life cops are dead, Dutt has asked for a reality-check on their past history… pictures, documents, newspaper stories, anecdotes…. Never before has Sanjay Dutt taken such a keen interest in character detailing. He wants both the roles to be real cops and different from one another in personality and appearance. Because they`re based on real characters he doesn`t want to slip up in the details."

Last week Dutt summoned the `Zilla Ghaziabad` producer Vinod Bachchan with rushes of the film to see how his character had shaped up.

For "Department", Dutt is even taking interest in the technical details. Preparing for his plunge into direction, perhaps?

Says Ram Gopal Varma: "Sanjay Dutt knows `Department` is a very special film for him. I`ve always believed he has one of the strongest screen presence. I haven`t presented him in that stylish cool-dude way in `Department`. For the first time in his career he is playing a very realistic character."