PR Job: Not worth it.

nikhilnaz

The entire series seems like a PR job for the Delhi police. Pity that the makers relied solely on the inputs from cops instead of opting for multiple sources, which may have helped them present a 360 degree view rather that a one-dimensional and biased perspective.

Throughout the seven episodes the makers conveniently erased and on occasions even tampered with certain incidents where the Delhi police had goofed up. For e.g the carpenter who was robbed on the same bus just minutes before the rape had informed the cops about it, but the police took no cognisance of that at the time. But in Delhi Crime they put the blame on the carpenter for not reporting the incident at all. Other moments that were twisted to favour the narrative of the police were: a) The Delhi cops treating all the accused with kid gloves, when we all know that cops (not just in Delhi but across the globe) make life hell for such criminals whilst in custody. On one occasion a lady cop even gets a sobbing accused to speak to his mother on the phone- unbelievable! b) Discrediting the media- which had exposed lapses by the cops based on evidences- by implying that they were being forced to make villains out of the police by the powers that be. c)Showing the govt in poor light by implying that they were hell bent on shifting blame from themselves by making the police commissioner the fall guy. Kumar, it is worth recalling, is a man previously charged for forging documents whilst he was working with the CBI and his work as the BCCI head of corruption also left a lot to be desired.

Also, the public protests, one felt, were underplayed. It were restricted to a bunch of students chanting 'we want justice' as if like fillers, coming on screen occasionally. But in reality, it was really the people's movement that was the crux of this story and the one major factor that made this case so different from anything that this country had seen before.

Though nicely shot and produced, the series lacks the essential element of neutrality that a viewer so desires when watching stories inspired from real life events. For a non-partisan perspective on the case, I suggest you watch the BBC documentary 'India's Daughter'.

score 4/10

nikhilnaz 29 October 2019

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5221229/