‘Delhi Crime’: Eye-opener, no reason to skip Season 3

When ‘Delhi Crime Season One’ first dropped in 2019, it recreated a searing account of the horrific Nirbhaya rape and murder case with exceptional sense and sensitivity. Shefali Shah as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, endearingly addressed as “Madam Sir”, completely won us over. ‘Season Two’ was an incisive anatomy of the mind of a serial killer, chillingly portrayed by Tillotama Shome.

As the International Emmy winning franchise enters its third season, the story is still inspired by real life events. This time, the trigger comes from the Baby Falak case (Baby Noor in the series), of a two-year-old girl. Severely injured, she was brought to the AIIMS trauma centre and the series moves from this harrowing event to transform into a full-scale expose of why, where and when.

The key characters are the same. Yes, the same dependable bunch of actors, including Rajesh Tailang (as Inspector Bhupinder Singh), playing conscientious police officers now in different locations, with enhanced designations and fresh assignments. Vartika has been posted in Assam where, in search of a cache of weapons, she accidentally stumbles upon a truck full of young girls.

Yes, ‘Season Three’ unmasks the gory world of sexual trafficking and how unsuspecting vulnerable girls are drawn into its clutches. The kingpin, rather the ‘queen’ mastermind, is a woman. No, we are not throwing a spoiler. Huma Qureshi’s evil persona surfaces from the word go, at the onset of the first episode.

Human trafficking is not a subject that hasn’t been dealt with before on the silver screen. Rani Mukerji’s ‘Mardaani’ delved into this dismal reality and who can forget Tahir Raj Bhasin’s debut as the menacing and controlled villain of the piece. However, you can give full marks to ‘Delhi Crime’ for not only giving us brave women police officers, a few good women so to say, but also introducing us to the monstrous face of the fair sex.

Besides Huma playing this Haryanvi Badi Didi Meena, there is an ace act by Mita Vashisht as Kalyani. She looks every inch the devilish woman, yet another cog in the racket.

Performances like its earlier seasons are still top-notch. Shefali can still convey a spectrum of emotions, through a glance here, a muscle contraction there, a slight twist in her body language. Rasika, reprising her part as Neeti Singh, gets more screen-time, and fleshes her meatier part with the same controlled conviction. Despite the fact that the format is still largely realistic, the series does get a trifle dramatic. No harm in that for, in order to sustain viewer interest, you do need to reboot the system by adding not only new faces, but also with the tone and tenor.

Qureshi’s ‘vampish’ turn is on point. Her Haryanvi diction and accent leave no room for quarrels. Setting her character in Haryana, the series makes a point or two about the deeply-entrenched patriarchy in the state. The existence of a brides’ market in a region with an abysmal sex ratio is an important subplot.

The narrative talks about meaningful concerns. Certain dialogues like “no one misses these missing girls” remind you of other series on crimes against women. When Shefali’s Vartika tells her daughter that it’s heartrending to see hopelessness in the eyes of girls caught in a brothel, something within you stirs. Without sexualising the events, the team of writers Mayank Tiwari, Shubhra Swarup and Anu Singh Choudhary, including director Tanuj Chopra, makes you witness the trauma of these girls.

There are subtle hints. After clinching the flesh trade deal, a man walks up to his family of wife and two daughters. These are double-faced people whose happy family lives have no bearing on their evil deeds.

Where the series falters is when it pays too much attention to Shabnam’s track. Perhaps it is expected as the mystery around her baby is the starting point of this police procedural. Indeed, it’s all very well to portray police personnel as empathetic, feeling human beings. But that an officer of DIG rank will micro-manage every single detail, be present everywhere personally and not delegate sounds a bit far-fetched. The writers realise this folly of hers and do add a few lines to justify her hyper stance.

The emotional reaction to Shabnam and her children’s condition, too, does not touch you as deeply. Indian girls sold all the way to Thailand as part of their thriving business also appears a bit of a stretch. Yet, we give the writers credence and this might really be happening. Where the franchise also scores is in building up the tense cat and mouse game between the police and the criminals.

The series’ core strengths still are excellent cinematography by Johan Aidt and Eric Wunder Lin, as well as authentic representation, the credit for which goes to production designer Akash Gautam, and superlative performances.

We all know that those in charge of keeping crime at bay often don’t come out covered in glory. And this portrayal of a few spunky women officers does provide “ummeed”. The police doing its job is a comforting thought. On that count alone, it deserves a watch, binge for sure.