WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
The realities of what is not seen or heard about. When an overwhelming amount of criminality is unable to be covered in its totality by the law, how does anyone truly feel safe? What will it take to cause a change that will make a difference and alter the perception of an entire city? In contemporary Delhi, it is this precise dilemma that plagues the police department and current DCP commander/deputy commissioner Vartika Chaturvedi (Shefali Shah). But when a shockingly violent crime occurs, it sparks Vartika to put together a special unit of officers including veteran Inspector Bhupendra Singh (Rajesh Tailang), SHO Vinod Tiwari (Vinod Sharawat), IPS trainee Neeti Singh (Rasika Dugal), sub-inspector/juvenile welfare officer Vimla Bhardwaj (Jaya Bhattacharya), and sub-inspector Jairaj Singh (Anurag Arora) among others to investigate, find the perpetrators, and resolve the case in the midst of trying to manage their own personal lives, political pressure, gender discrimination, and the weighty potency of public scrutiny and perception.
Next, my Mind:
We revisit one of South Asian cinema’s faces to watch with this review as we once more showcase rising star Richie Mehta, whose feature film “Amal” I also took in and offered opinion of. Demonstrating his absolutely prowess via a streaming series format this time around, Mehta pushes forth a deeply dramatic offering that more than gives notice to not just the South Asian arena but the filmmaking community as a whole that there’s a young gun on the loose and he’s coming out firing, no holds barred. This critic firmly believes in directors who are able to pull off this kind of multi-platform skillset and do it with the same level of vigor, intensity, and desire to achieve across the big and small screen, with Mehta a part of this newer generation of filmmakers making their moves. The U.S. audience has had the chance to witness this effort being reviewed here, and I would firmly suggest checking out Mehta’s other work to date to see the already distinguished degrees of aptitude he offers.
The burdens of duty and obligation, perseverance and defeat, deep emotional bonds both personal and professional, and the associated sacrifices, voluntary or otherwise, encountered when striving to simply do the right thing are just some of the elements that have their day in the visceral and volatile sun throughout the 7-episode first season of this superbly written and executed Netflix original series brought to captivating life through series creator/writer/director Richie Mehta, producers Robert Friedland, Sidney Kimmel, and Brian Kornreich, plus executive producers Apoorva Bakshi, Sanjay Bachani, Aaron Kaplan, Kilian Kerwin, Pooja Kohli, John Penotti, Jeff Sagansky, Florence Sloan, and Michael Hogan. We’ve all heard the Nigerian proverb that advises “It takes a village to raise a child”, and here, it takes this wealth of prolific production talent and then some to offer the gem of South Asian entertainment that carries, for this critic anyway, the epic tone and feel of a feature film but the wonderfully paced dramatic impact of the episodic format it’s presented in.
Based on an actual case, the foundational narrative delivered finds us once more in the bustling city of Delhi, which is facing its wave of ongoing crime with an overworked and stretched thin police force that is not possibly able to cover it all, often causing the city as a whole to overlook much of it strictly out of the normalcy of doing it. But, when a particularly brutal incident occurs that shakes the city to its core, it’s up to the current DCP Commander and her hand-picked group of veteran officers plus a fresh new recruit to take a dive into the heart of darkness in an effort to finally show the police are concerned and involved with the well-being of the city, even as they additionally must confront all the myriad of forces stacking against them and expecting them to fail. This alone emphasizes the underlying and, in my opinion, primary thematic gist of the season and series to date, which is the heavy inspection of police competency and its effectiveness in the eyes of those whom they’re sworn to protect.
Then, there are the ongoing explorations and demonstrated forays into an ever-expanding and highly varied list of thematic bends that address misguided thinking, self-serving political agendas, lack of police funding, accusations of misconduct, power grabs, gender-based prejudice, violence against women, demands for justice, personal motives, desire for seeing resolution no matter the cost, standing firm for what you believe, the consequences of remaining silent when the need to speak up is paramount, and the pure evil wrought upon another human being by others. Even this doesn’t feel like it adequately covers all that is put on display throughout the season, but how these facets are interwoven among the characters, not just in the context of the case itself but also how it all bleeds into their individual lives as well, is so adeptly and intelligently laid out and it makes for truly engaging drama. Likewise, the finale of the season is offered through a measured amount of utter triumph combined with a tangibly haunting ending image that foreshadows things to come, and it WILL leave an indelible mark on your conscious.
And, to speak further of indelible marks, it must be stated that listening to the full recounting of the crime in question via the main victim’s testimony is arguably one of the most blatantly gut-wrenching and horrific aspects of the entire run, and it assuredly puts a harrowing perspective on events that makes you both enraged and sickened, which is a testament to the unapologetic approach the series was willing to take to have that impact. The overall visual look of the season was excellently carried off, providing us clean, crisp immersion into the travails and victories these characters are facing. This paired with Andrew Lockington‘s atmospheric and equally winning music score creates the viewer experience that this level of production warrants, leaving you breathless by the end and honestly wanting more, even as heavier in themes the series is in its freshman effort. This critic can only imagine there’s a second season in the works, and we can only hope it will be developed with the same magnitude of skill and prowess exhibited here.
Mentioned more than a few times through several previously offered film reviews, being able to feel I can do complete justice to the immensity of talent represented amongst this fantastic ensemble cast without it requiring writing the newest Great American Novel would be an understatement, and this is no exaggeration folks. So, while a certain extent of brevity will, sadly, have to be exercised here, may it be fully known it is NO disrespect to the monumental cast. Shah is pure genius through her role as the wholeheartedly intrepid DCP Commander/Deputy Commissioner of Delhi’s police force Vartika Chaturvedi, whose vested interest in not only seeing an abominable crime and those responsible for it brought to justice but completely changing the image of the police in the public eye is raw, personal, and filled with a level of dedication and commitment that could still end up costing her job, or propel her to new heights in the still-present patriarchy she has to contend with, even as she also is trying to convince her own family Delhi is a great place to live. Shah’s sheer passion and intensity throughout the season is a palpable, dynamic force to be reckoned with, playing the character with all-out energy, believability, and poise.
Tailang, Sharawat, Arora, and Bhattacharya, in addition to Sidharth Bhardwaj as SHO Subhash Gupta and Gaurav Rana as SHO Rakesh Verma, make up the core group of officers Vartika hand-picks to delve into the case with abandon and bring the offenders to justice, even as the elements involved become more and more difficult to obtain when other obstacles attempt to impede their paths. But each one of these characters does such a wonderful job in allowing us to see how loyal and committed they are to this case and to Vartika, even as they too must try to balance personal issues on top of it all, and it’s a testament to the acting prowess on display in how that group of artists so deftly navigate their respective characters through the emotionally charged minefields they come upon throughout the season. I also felt this was attained by the evident chemistry between the actors as well, which also gave their character’s interactions more degrees of realism.
Primary supporting roles arrive with yet more praise-worthy performances from Denzil Smith as Vartika’s husband Vishal whose job besides trying his level best to be there for a mostly absent wife during the case is to watch over the couple’s teenage daughter Chandhi, played with apropos angst and vulnerable urgency by Yashaswini Dayama, Adil Hussain as CP Kumar, who strives to support Vartika as much as he can possibly do while being under his own amount of pressure from higher ups whose only concern seems to be creating scapegoats than improving the police force’s image, Abhilasha Singh and Sanjay Bishnoi are Deepika and Akash, the unfortunate victims of the monstrous attack that sparks the investigation and whose abilities to assist in the case is both challenged and sometimes potentially disruptive, Harsh Hansraj, Vicky Vishwas, Mridul Sharma, Abhishek Kumar, and Pankaj Gupta as the men responsible for the attack and whose flight from the law takes their pursuers to great lengths to catch them.
Some additional appearances are made by Jaiti Khera as Dr. Teena Bhutani who becomes the care physician for Deepika’s time in the hospital, Sanjiv Chopra as Sanjeev, the Chief Minister of Delhi who proves to be more than a persistent roadblock with his own political views and goals during the case, Ramji Bali and Amitabh Acharya as Sub-Inspectors Prakash and Ashok who become involved over time, along with a HUGE host of other appearances which are fully appreciated but just too numerous to mention in detail. So, in total, “Delhi Crime” Season 1 is a must-see procedural drama that takes its provocative topic and unflinchingly engrosses us in a tale of real-world heroes, villains, and everything in between to showcase how uprightness still has a place in what sometimes seems like an impossibly dark world. Bring on Season 2!
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
