Mumbai: Netflix's India Original series Delhi Crime, helmed by Indian-Canadian director Richie Mehta, has bagged the best drama series honour at the 48th International Emmy Awards on Monday night. The seven-episode series narrates the story of investigation in the aftermath of the heinous Delhi gang-rape of December 2012.
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Delhi Crime was nominated in the best drama series category alongside Germany's Charite season two, UK's Criminal, and the second season of El Jardin de Bronce (The Bronze Garden) from Argentina. Two other Emmy nominations from India included Amazon Prime Video's Four More Shots and Arjun Mathur for his role in drama Made in Heaven in the best comedy and actor categories respectively. Both couldn't register wins. While Four More Shots, created by Rangita Pritish Nandy, lost to Brazil's Ninguem ta Olhando (Nobody's Looking), Mathur lost to 13-year-old Billy Barratt for his role in UK's Responsible Child.
The International Emmy Awards are organised by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (IATAS) in recognition to the best television programs initially produced and aired outside the United States. The awards are presented annually in November every year.
- The plot
For Delhi Crime, Mehta started research on the case in 2012, when the tragic crime took place, digging deep into police files. Told from the perspective of the Delhi Police team investigating the crime that made global headlines, the series deconstructs the case of the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who was abducted and gangraped in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012 before she was abandoned on a Delhi road.
- Star cast
In the series, Shefali Shah played Vartika Chaturvedi, a character that was based on former Delhi Police DCP Chaya Sharma who cracked the case of the brutal gang-rape within 72 hours. The fictionalised crime drama series also features Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Avijit Dutt, Gopal Dutt, Jaya Bhattacharya, Denzil Smith and Yashaswini Dayama in pivotal roles.
- Reception
Upon its release in March 2019, Delhi Crime had received massive acclaim for its sensitive retelling of the crime that shook the entire nation. Critics lauded the makers for sparing the audience from the brutality of watching the rape and at the same time not protecting them from trauma and horrific aftermath of a crime. Critics also heaped praise on Mehta for professionally handling extremely complex crime investigation.
- Controversies
Upset with his "derogatory" portrayal as a "dumb and slow" officer in Delhi Crime, Inspector Anil Sharma, who was commended by his seniors for his painstaking probe that put all the accused behind the bars, contemplated to take legal action against show's director and his team. He said that his portrayal as one who shrugs off responsibility on jurisdiction issue, is not trusted and often been scolded by then DCP, Chhaya Sharma, in the series, is totally wrong. In his response, Mehta had said that there was "a disclaimer at the end of each Delhi Crime episode" and that the "names have been changed, and some of the events, dialogue and chronology have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes". Sharma, who watched the series, claimed Mehta has apologized to him but he felt that his character's portrayal in the series has hurt him and the respect that he gained from society and his family members also shattered.
Delhi Crime was also accused of whitewashing the police department which was apparently caught napping on that dreadful night. It was also reported that an ex-police officer who knew Mehta had asked him to direct the film and provided access to police files. At the base of Delhi Crime is the information that the maker got from former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar.
- The reaction of Nirbhaya's family
When the show released last year, Nirabhaya and her bereaved family were still waiting for justice to prevail. Before embarking on the project, Mehta said he had several discussions with Nirbhaya's family to make them aware of what he was doing at every stage. According to him, the family recognised that "something positive could come from this.”
Contrary to Mehta's claims, Nirbhaya's father, Badrinath Singh, had said that he is neither supporting nor opposing the show. He also mentioned that he and his family were not a part of the show's making. Her mother, Asha Devi, who fought relentlessly for more than seven years to get her daughter justice had said that the makers "want to encash on our plight." She even refused to watch the series because of the very fact, that it will make her recall the tragedy which shook her to the core.
