The series unfolds like an engrossing crime thriller. New information is brought to light at every turn of the plot as the audience gets an inside look into how various pillars of the state and the society – law enforcers, politicians, judiciary, media and ultimately the public – act and interact in times of tragedy. We, indeed, get a glimpse into how ‘the system’ works – or doesn’t work – in a South Asian context. Rules are bent, favours are sought and given, and not everything goes by the book.
The story is told from the perspective of the police so it is sympathetic towards them. It rationalises their incompetence and negligence as honest mistakes resulting from structural issues. But where the cops are shown as well-meaning though misunderstood, the news media is portrayed in an entirely negative light — like vultures and parasites feeding off human misery. There is a question mark on the conduct of the society at large as well, as people, when whipped into frenzy, are shown to be exhibiting the signs of the same bloodlust, rage, and mob mentality that the perpetrators of the gang rape possessed.
At one point, a bemused Bhupendra Singh asks: “They’re angry, but what do they actually want?”The star of the show is, of course, Shah. With her emotive eyes and controlled body language, she slips into all the different roles her character demands with an ease that is captivating to watch: the no-nonsense cop; the workaholic boss with a different relationship with each of her subordinates; and the overprotective mother shielding her daughter from the big bad world she deals with each day.
Some viewers might have expected Delhi Crime to be another Sacred Games which covers historical events that take place in the backdrop of a world of gods and demons in Mumbai. But where Sacred Games is glamorous, larger than life and philosophical – Mumbai being the centre of money and entertainment, a place that sells dreams – Delhi Crime is more of a mundane walk through the corridors of power in India’s capital. The suspense in the series is largely built in small moments and much of it takes place inside the confines of the police station. Exhausted police officers with dark circles under their eyes survive on a mixture of bad coffee, adrenalin, hope and the fear of losing their jobs. There is no time for glamour or philosophy in this world.
Perhaps Delhi Crime has resonated with audiences largely because it does something few Indian television productions do: it depicts reality as it is, with all its nuances and ugliness. The smog-coated winter afternoons. The cacophony of traffic. The stray dogs. The class inequalities. The subtle forms of misogyny women face in their daily lives along with the more obvious, violent ones. For most of us in South Asia, this is a highly familiar world.
The writer was previously a staffer at the Herald.
This article was published in the Herald's May 2019 issue. To read more subscribe to the Herald in print.