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Delhi Crime dramatises a horrific gang rape without disrespecting its victim

Delhi Crime dramatises a horrific gang rape without disrespecting its victim

During Delhi Crime's roughly 7 hours of running time, the rape is never depicted. But it is described in detail thrice.
Updated 03 Apr, 2019

Delhi Crime, a Netflix India original 7-part series, is inspired by the 2012 Delhi gang rape case.

Fortunately, it’s not an exploration of the rape incident, but an examination of the following six-day police investigation. In the roughly seven hours of the show, the rape is never depicted, but it is described in detail three times. Each description will make you deeply uncomfortable.

If you’ve ever wondered how South Asian police officers track suspects and gather evidence, the series answers you succinctly; in Delhi Crime, the police rely heavily on their own instincts, informers, and have almost no technology at hand.

The most frequently used ‘technology’ is finding a suspect’s cell phone to retrieve a ‘call log’ that geolocates their previous movements. In one scene, an officer stun-silences the room when he reveals that his phone camera can make blurry images clearer. If it weren’t so sad, it would be hilarious.

Focusing on the investigation reveals a side of the police force we've not seen before

Shefali Shah (right) and Rasika Dugal keep the audience hooked
Shefali Shah (right) and Rasika Dugal keep the audience hooked

DSP South Delhi Vartika Chaturvedi, played by Shefali Shah, is the centre holding the show and the investigation together; without her both would unravel. Through the show, it’s her success we root for, sometimes so much that we forget Deepika, the character of Jyoti Malhotra, who is battling for her life at the hospital. Luckily for us, Deepika is the reason the DSP won’t rest.

While it is difficult to imagine a DSP prioritising a victim over her own superiors, the majority of the DSP’s characterisation is flawless. Shah’s character is not modelled after alpha male police officers; she is in a league of her own. DSP Vartika is amazing at her job, she excels at motivating tired and lazy officers to find needles in haystacks; at one point she even succumbs to massaging the ego of worthless SHO Vinod, who then, inspired by Hollywood crime movies manages to pull his weight around. Vinod’s deftly designed character arc also helps to characterise the Delhi police force.

If DSP Vartika is the ethos of the show, the reason we believe that Delhi Police, which is shown to be rotting from all corners, can do this, then IPS trainee, colossal baller, Neeti (Rasika Dugal) is the pathos. She depicts how officers balance their feelings about crimes while maintaining their professional fronts.

If you’ve ever wondered how South Asian police officers track suspects and gather evidence, the series answers you succinctly; in Delhi Crime, the police rely heavily on their own instincts, informers, and have almost no technology at hand.

To complete the trinity, we have the ever-reliable Inspector Bhupender (Rajesh Tailang). He is an almost tangible manifestation of logos. Apart from his one blunder of victim-blaming the male victim, Bhupender fails no one, he never complains about the constant pain in his lower back, and when Vartika tries to speak to him from a place of privilege about his daughter’s arranged marriage, he politely but firmly reminds her “Madam Sir, we come from different worlds.”

It’s true. DSP Vartika is passionate, tireless, and a true leader, but her English accent is far thicker than Bhupender’s.

One of the many delicious details in the show is that as you climb the police hierarchy, the officers’ English accents get thicker. Officer Vimla, whose been in service for over two decades, is scolded for her poor English, while the police commissioner sounds like a relic of the colonial era. The show is a great primer into the classism of the Delhi Police and the rigid hierarchies of power.

In the search for more villains, the wrong targets take the heat

Perhaps the greatest weakness of the show is also what makes it fresh; the fact that we are shown everything from the POV of the Delhi Police. The police force are underdogs; no one believes they can do this. They are underpaid, overworked, high on drugs, low on medicines, and have symbolic and literal festering wounds. To achieve this humanisation, each cop is given a backstory, a personality and several believable quirks.

But viewers should remain vigilant and critical, the force is humanised so much as to make you forget about police brutality, corruption, abuse of power and lethargy.

All you feel for these men and women serving their country is sympathy. When will they get to sleep? Why aren’t they eating dinner? In fact, there comes a point when you almost encourage a sliver of police brutality, until DSP Vartika enters the scene and shakes everyone, including viewers, to their senses.

The one thing the police, and the show, can’t perhaps be forgiven for, is the lazy understanding and depiction of the civil society and the media. The public outrage and media coverage are regarded as unethical and unnecessary. “Yeh placards itni jaldi kaisay bana ley tay hain?” quips Bhupender on his first sighting of the civil society protest. Even the otherwise hyper aware DSP Vartika is blind to the fact that while the civil society is bothering her, it is mounting necessary pressure on politicians and her government.

The show exposes gender imbalances across the country. In Delhi, a near-death Deepika breathlessly pleads: “Don’t tell my father anything [about the gang rape].” Is it shame?

Delhi Crime’s rapists are criminals, spineless animals, but they aren’t masterminds. The show needed a dynamic, vibrant villain. It couldn’t be the cops, they have foot infections and no transportation allowance, and so it was the politicians, the media, the government and the civil society.

The problem was that these were too many villains, and the best the show could do was apply wide brushstrokes to each of these; leaving the audience confused about the wheeling and dealing between these parties.

Then there is the problematic demand for the death sentence. It’s the same prayer on every set of lips: Hang them. Hang them. Hang them. The show leaves no space for any other form of justice, erasing the voices of the many feminist groups across India that rejected the death penalty for rape.

The show exposes gender imbalances across the country. In Delhi, a near-death Deepika breathlessly pleads: “Don’t tell my father anything [about the gang rape].” Is it shame? In Rajasthan, a cop is too busy filing out routine dowry harassment cases to bother with official protocol. In Jharkand, a man is furious because the police disrespected him in front of his daughter-in-law. And our very own Neeti is harassed by SHO Vinod, the same man who cowers in front of DSP Vartika.

Pakistani drama writers and directors should be shaken to the core with India producing cinematically and thematically stellar web series one after another (Made in Heaven, Lust Stories, Sacred Games, Mirzapur) in collaboration with Netflix and Amazon Prime.

A surprising and strong element of the show is its humour. You wouldn’t expect to find laugh-out-loud moments in a show about a police investigation about a horrific gang rape/murder, but the jokes never trivialise what’s at stake. They are directed at the police, its lethargy and its inefficiency. The humour is well-timed and necessary; no one should expect the show to be cheery, but the banter keeps the police officers’ and the audiences’ spirits up.

While Delhi Crime will not create societal change in India, Pakistani drama writers and directors should be shaken to the core with India producing cinematically and thematically stellar web series one after another (Made in Heaven, Lust Stories, Sacred Games, Mirzapur) in collaboration with Netflix and Amazon Prime. Meanwhile Pakistani dramas have been following the same, stale recipes for decades.

Like many other Netflix shows, Delhi Crime was made to be binge watched.

If everyone in Delhi is – metaphorically and literally – kept awake by the heinousness of the crime, then why should you sleep?

Everyone has to stay awake to keep the pressure on each other, and you, as the audience, must partake.

Comments

Surya Kant Agrawal Apr 01, 2019 09:28am
Excellent movie.
Recommend
Huma Apr 01, 2019 09:49am
The show literally shakes you to the core. I watched the initial 4 episodes and it had been more than 12 hours, and I could not get it out of my mind. Extremely good work done by the entire cast as well as people behind the cameras.
Recommend
Rajput Apr 01, 2019 09:55am
A great documentary depicting the ground realities of Delhi police.
Recommend
huma yousaf Apr 01, 2019 09:57am
thanks a lot for your previous article due to which i came to know that this season was being released on Netflix. A really thought provoking season. But yes you are right the civil society and media are shown as the villains. they forgot the fact that if it was not for all the protests made by the society, This case would also have been shoved under the rugs like any other rape case.
Recommend
Pradeep Apr 01, 2019 10:13am
Great review and inciteful observations. Some issues like targeting of police by certain politicians have sub context like Delhi police comes under federal control unlike other states. This makes its relation with state chief minister a bit structurally adversarial. Overall good series and equally good review.
Recommend
TRP Apr 01, 2019 10:47am
It's quite a different web series. No jump shots no melodrama. Seems like the case is unfolding right in front of the eyes. I've had binge watched it, and this coming from someone who has taken light on GOT. Shefali Shah has delivered a sucker punch.
Recommend
Bipul Apr 01, 2019 10:48am
The fire that this incident had lit in Indians has still not died down. No mercy for perpetrators irrespective of who the victim is.
Recommend
Pankaj Jaju Apr 01, 2019 12:40pm
Extremely well-written review. A word or two about the performance of the cast, specifically, Shefali Shah and the writing/direction of Ritchie Mehta would have rounded off the review neatly. Delhi Crime is highly recommended for viewing. Pankaj Jaju, Goa, India
Recommend
Fatema Imani Apr 01, 2019 01:07pm
"Through the show, it’s her success we root for, sometimes so much that we forget Deepika, the character of Jyoti Malhotra, who is battling for her life at the hospital." - I find this line really insensitive and in bad taste.
Recommend
Shafaqat Ali Apr 01, 2019 01:38pm
Great work. My takeaway from this movie is that if we could enable police by providing all required facilities including necessary litigation, crime rate would definitely fall. Delhi police did a commendable job. KP police did really well in Mardan university lynching case too.
Recommend
Asad Apr 01, 2019 02:03pm
High time Netflix takes Pakistan as a market so many good content and moral lessons cant be sent to society on Zainab case, Malala case, Ravina and Reema. We have amazing directors too who can portray it well.
Recommend
Laila Apr 01, 2019 03:51pm
A British director went to India and made a documentary about the infamous rape case involving the female student (RIP) brutalized to death on a moving bus with her male companion being beaten up and subdued. It is called 'Indias Daughter' by Leslee Udwin from 2015. It was also banned in India. To close to home. I would be much more interested in India unbanning THAT documentary if you really want to have an honest discussion of the institutionalized misogyny and rape mentality fostered in some parts of the culture.
Recommend
Raman Apr 01, 2019 04:10pm
@Asad I agree with your view point but I doubt if Pakistan government would allow it proceed?
Recommend
nilu197 Apr 01, 2019 05:35pm
I have some points 1. Victim's name was Jyoti Singh Pandey (not Malhotra) 2. Shefali Shah is playing the role of Chaaya Sharma who was DCP of Delhi at the time 3. I personally believe that blaming the male victim was warranted. He did nothing when he was supposed to and finally karma caught up with him. He should not get punishment but condemnation is well deserved
Recommend
MSJ Apr 01, 2019 06:21pm
Great review. I watched the show in 3 sittings, couldn't carve out 7 hours in a day, but not for lack of trying. Every actor does justice to the role given, and the direction keeps you glued for more. Well done Netflix. I haven't seen other india/Netflix collabs, but if this is any indication, I am certainly on board for more. I had heard about the event, but never followed up with how it culminated in reality. As unfortunate and tragic as the event was with the suffering and passing of the young victim, glad the perpetrators were caught. Jai Singh is more than a criminal. He needs help. The loss of his wife has clearly created an imbalance in him that needed pharma and psychological counseling. but based on the strata of society he came from, it seems an unlikely proposition. The writers tried to throw shade at the moral decency or lack thereof of the victim couple and their public behavior with three of the six gang members making reference to their promiscuity.
Recommend
Ateeq KHAN Apr 01, 2019 07:08pm
Maham, I watched the whole series over the weekend. Really impressed with the production and acting. I am also impressed by your writing :) To compare Pakistani drama industry with India is little bit premature. India is a well-established, well-oiled industry with huge resources and money. Netflix will not consider any Pakistani web-series unless it can match the standards of Spanish or Indian content. One topic I can think of is the MQM story - if it can ever be told and filmed accurately.
Recommend
Salma Apr 01, 2019 07:33pm
Not sure why st thus juncture there are active forces that are still trying to market Indian content in Pakistan. As a piece of art there is nothing wrong. However, we could spend the same effort encouraging something of our own.
Recommend
Omair Apr 01, 2019 07:58pm
I have never before season such a difficult subject handled so beautifully!
Recommend
KAMAL NAYAN Apr 01, 2019 10:04pm
Sadly, these shows are cause of depression for people in their 20s
Recommend
Laila Apr 01, 2019 11:18pm
I will watch this solely because Shefali Shah is a great actress and very underestimated. I still would recommend people seeing Leslee Udwins documentary 'Indias daughter'. Also stop blaming the male victim. They were a group of thugs against 2 people.
Recommend
Kant Apr 02, 2019 03:11am
I followed this incident , when it happened; I remember that the minor suspect, Sonu, acted more aggressively & brutal then the rest. Because of that fact there a big controversy erupted as most critics wanted him to be tried as an adult. Surprised that the serial did not even indicate that. OTW, the series was an outstanding dramatization of the ghastly acts in Delhi.
Recommend
Sanjay Rao Apr 02, 2019 06:25am
@Ateeq KHAN Indians/Pakistan share the same culture. We would love to watch real-life stories of Pakistan. Netflix is beyond petty politics and could very well build a team of talented people from both countries and produce one.
Recommend
Kumar Apr 02, 2019 06:59am
@nilu197 It is against the law in India to disclose the name of a sexual crime victim. They have suffered immensely, let them not be subjected to further gossip and slander.
Recommend
Kamal Khan Apr 02, 2019 10:46am
Very dark, the cast was made so lackluster almost looked unhygienic in the movie. really creepy!
Recommend
Amir Apr 02, 2019 05:26pm
She has performed as a Deputy Commisioner of Police (DCP) not a DSP for your correction.
Recommend
sz Apr 02, 2019 09:06pm
@KAMAL NAYAN the show depicts the truth and truth can not be hidden.
Recommend
Rp Apr 03, 2019 06:59am
@Laila - I believe it was because the documentary includes interviews with the rapists, and the rationale for the ban was that those rapists should not be glorified.
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