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Delhi Crime is most gripping as a police procedural: a tense, carefully staged account of the logistical strain behind a major investigation. But its focus on the hunt for the perpetrators leaves harder questions about the victim’s companion, public pressure and motive only partly addressed.
What is Delhi Crime about?
The seven-episode first season fictionalises the Delhi Police investigation into the December 16, 2012 gang rape of a physiotherapy intern. It is a dramatisation, not a documentary reconstruction: creator Richie Mehta has described the series as fictionalised, and reporting on the production notes that three real-life characters were combined into one on screen. [Scroll.in, March 22, 2019; The Indian Express]
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At the centre is DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, played by Shefali Shah, and a team working under intense public scrutiny. A line the fictional Vartika delivers, quoted in the Scroll.in review, captures the urgency: “It’s a case like no other, and we have to get these bastards.”
Why the investigation is so compelling
In Nandini Ramnath’s 2019 review for Scroll.in, the series is strongest when it makes police work feel difficult and concrete. The obstacles include an underfunded station, power outages, overloaded officers and the challenge of pursuing leads beyond Delhi. These details give the procedural its tension: the pressure is not just a ticking clock, but the daily friction of trying to coordinate an investigation with limited resources.
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Ramnath praises Richie Mehta’s staging and Johan Huerlin Aidt’s cinematography, as well as the committed ensemble. Shefali Shah anchors the series, while Rasika Dugal’s Neeti subplot supplies an empathetic counterpoint to the relentless casework. A 2020 Times of India season review likewise highlights the investigation amid infrastructure problems and public pressure, though that does not resolve the concerns raised by Ramnath.
Where the series’ framing becomes troubling
Akash and the burden of suspicion
The sharpest ethical concern in Ramnath’s review is the portrayal of Akash, the fictionalised companion of the victim. The series entertains suspicion about why he did not defend himself, including the question, “Why didn’t Akash defend himself even though he was physically capable”. Ramnath argues that this turns him into a “sideshow villain” and echoes the scrutiny often directed at rape survivors. The issue is not simply that the character is questioned; it is that this suspicion can redirect attention from the crime and its perpetrators toward the conduct of the people harmed by it.
Rank #2
- Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.
Protest, media and pressure
The show depicts protests and media coverage as potentially sensationalist or disruptive. Ramnath’s objection is that this emphasis discounts the role public pressure played in pushing the response forward. The series is effective at showing the strain pressure places on investigators, but the review questions whether it gives enough weight to why the public and press were demanding action.
Punishment without enough reflection
Calls to hang the rapists recur in the drama. Ramnath does not say the show endorses bloodlust; rather, she finds that it does too little to challenge or calm it. That distinction matters: a series can depict public anger without endorsing it, but the reviewer feels Delhi Crime leaves the demand for extreme punishment insufficiently examined.
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A subplot that pulls focus
Ramnath also considers DCP Vartika Chaturvedi’s daughter Chandni’s subplot too prominent. She acknowledges that the material showcases Yashaswini Dayama, but argues that it takes screen time from the investigation and the questions the case raises.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the procedural approach cannot explain
The series devotes its attention to how investigators identify and pursue suspects; it is less successful, in Ramnath’s view, at explaining why the perpetrators committed the crime. A character’s speculation about motive strikes the reviewer as facile. This is a real limit of the show’s chosen frame: reconstructing an investigation can reveal police decisions, obstacles and urgency, but it does not automatically account for the social or personal forces behind the crime.
Ramnath contrasts that emphasis with Deepa Mehta’s Anatomy of Violence (2016), which she describes as using fiction to explore perpetrators’ backgrounds. She also names Leslee Udwin’s documentary India’s Daughter (2015) as a related work. These are comparisons of approach, not a claim that one work is a definitive account; current availability for either title is not established here. [Scroll.in]
How to read its acclaim alongside the criticism
Delhi Crime won Best Drama Series at the 48th International Emmy Awards, as reported by The Indian Express and The Quint. That recognition speaks to the series’ achievement as a drama; it does not settle the ethical and interpretive questions in Ramnath’s review. [The Indian Express; The Quint]
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For documentary viewers, the most useful way to approach the season is to distinguish a forceful reconstruction of police work from a complete account of the crime. Ramnath’s review finds the former persuasive and the latter unresolved. Scroll.in listed the series on Netflix in Hindi and English in 2019; streaming availability can vary by country and date, so that historical listing should not be taken as confirmation of current access.
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