“Delhi crime” directed by award-winning Indo-Canadian filmmaker Richie Mehta, is released on Netflix, starring Shefali Shah, Adil Hussain, Rasika Dugal, and Rajesh tailing,a crime series that is “worth watching” and is based on Delhi's soul-stirring "NIRBHAYA Rape Case".It has an IMDb rating of 8.5/10. The Netflix show has been applauded for its sensitive take on what is considered one of the most frightful crimes against women. The seven-episode series, Delhi crime retells us the inconceivable story, brutal gang rape of a 23-year old girl in December 2012, in the neighborhood of Munirka in South Delhi. We are far too familiar with the Nirbhaya Case, a crime that changed the nation and shook the country to its core, becoming a global story. A crime that would leave us scared and a red flag to a city like Delhi afflicted by indescribable crimes against women.

The series dissects the case of a Physiotherapy-intern who was abducted and gang-raped in a running bus on the night of 16th December 2012, before she was forsaken on a Delhi road. Her injuries were so dreadful that she died in a Singapore hospital a fortnight later. The makers claim in the opening credits that the series was inspired by ‘case files', it is clear that several fictionalized liberties have been taken, presumably to add more ‘stimulation’ to the story. The plot is immediately engaging and the acting is superb. The only people the show civilizes are the police. All other characters-protestors, families of the culprits, victims kin, media, politician, and civil society-spile synthetic dialogues that help them fit perfectly into the narrative of how the Delhi police fought a brave battle to nab the sinners and earned a very little praise for it.

The series gets so anguished to give the police a clean chit that the leading actor of the show, DCP Vartika Chaturvedi played by Shefali Shah, is shown abruptly, telling the male survivor that since a PCR van has no utility, the delay in the police spotting them and hence, getting their medical help is somewhat understandable. Delhi police are shown to be compassionate, kind, hardworking, and deeply perseverant. A constable who waive buying medicines for his ill wife until the culprits are nabbed, a woman DCP who didn’t have the time to meet her daughter in days, an SHO who scours all over Delhi with an infected foot, and an IPS trainee who shuttles between protest duty and hospital without a break.

The series also shows how the central government as being empathetic to the police and the state government continues their mission to take down Vartika and her team from further investigation. Political signaling on the back of a real incident of gang-rape and murder is yet another factor that pulls this series down. All the characteristics in the show are neatly assembled as adversaries for the police, who are shown dealing with them with nobility and minimal fuss while investigating the crime. The show ends up minimizing the massive protests that broke out in Delhi as a hurdle in the way of the investigation. In short, the ‘recreations' of real-life incidents of sexual violence usually begins as an uncomfortable ball of anxiety in the mind of the audience and quickly streams into anger and fear.

Recently, The Netflix series ‘Delhi crime' attained a nomination in the “Best Drama series"in The International Emmy Awards, 2020. The International Emmy awards is granted by the International Academy of Television Arts and Science to the finest television programmes created outside the US. Delhi crime is emanated from the 2012 , Delhi gangrape and murder, which phrases the objections leading to a amend in the India’s Rape Law. The series will compete against Charité-2 Season 2 (Germany), Criminal UK (United Kingdom) and El Jardín de Bronce (The Bronze Garden) – Season 2 (Argentina). The award show will be held on November 23 at New York. 

Actor Adil Hussain  who took the lead in the show, took to Twitter to share his exhilaration, on the news.

“As we speak…Just Now I came to know that #Delhicrime , that I am a part of, has been nominated for Best Drama Series @iemmys" he said.

As we speak.. Just now I came to know that #DelhiCrime, that I am a part of, has been nominated for Best drama series at @iemmys International #emmyawards #Emmys https://t.co/Owjt3P4Aqs — Adil hussain (@_AdilHussain) September 24, 2020

Shefali Shah who played the role of a committed police officer escorted away with all the laurels for her fantastic performance at the prestigious Jagran Film Festival, iReel Awards and Asian Academy Creative Awards (in Singapore) last year. Being nominated at the Emmys she informs, "I'm beyond excited. I don't know another show that deserves this more. Delhi Crime and Vartika is one of the best things that happened to me. I am so so proud to be a part of it, irrespective of nominations or awards. Of course, the recognition emphasises what I feel."