Delhi Crime 2 Review: Shefali Shah And Team's Gravitating Performance Makes The Emmy-Winning Series Gripping!

Item: Delhi Crime 2
Rating: 3.5
Author: Johnson Thomas

By Johnson Thomas

Updated: Sunday, August 28, 2022, 21:08 [IST]

Rating:

3.5/5

Star Cast: Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Rasika Duggal, Adil Hussain, Tillotama Shome, Denzil Smith, Aakash Dahiya, Avijit Dutt, Yashaswini Dayama, Anuraag Arora, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Gopal Datt, Kuldeep Sarin, Jatin Goswami, Vyom Yadav, Danish Hussain

Director: Tanuj Chopra

Delhi Crime, the International Emmy Award-winning web series inspired by real events, returns with season 2 on Netflix starting August 26. The cop-criminal documentary-style drama series, based on police files, is back with a new season of scintillating police procedures, sharp investigations, and a heroine, DCP South District, Vartika Chaturvedi (Shefali Shah) one can continue to idolise.

Unfortunately, in the real world, given the way in which most cases have gone, the Delhi Police, of late, has become one of the most untrustworthy law enforcement agencies in the country. We will let you sniff out the real from the fictional here but suffice to say, given the manner in which this series is presented, one might mistakenly be convinced that the Delhi Police is one amongst the few credible institutions we have in a country with just 138 policemen for every 1 lakh population. But due credit to them for handling certain cases well and solving them.

Created by erstwhile director-creator Ritchie Mehta who relinquishes helming to Tanuj Chopra in Season 2 of Delhi Crime, this new season has a fresh central story based on "Moon Gazer", one of the chapters from former Delhi police officer Neeraj Kumar's book titled Khaki Files.

The series continues to blend incidents from real life and fiction to create a pulse-pounding run-up to the solving of yet another intriguing, much publicised, heinous series of crimes. This time, multiple homicides of senior citizens rock a tony, gated South Delhi Greater Kailash neighbourhood. The primary evidence points accusatory fingers at the notorious, oily 'Kaccha-baniyan gang' that gruesomely terrorised the north India in the 1990s.

Produced by an international team with international standard production values, amazingly vivid production design, an inveigling background score that ups the tempo when required, befitting costume and sound design and stunning accentuating camerawork that goes deep into the dark heart and soul of the city to bring us enveloping vistas that characterise the life and blood of a city riddled with crime - continues to be the bulwark on which Delhi Crime Season 2 builds its believability.

Written by Mayank Tiwari and Shubra Swarup with co-writer Ensia Mirza's assists and studded with Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh and Virat Basoya's intuitive dialogue (save for a few repetitive ones that grate), Delhi Crime 2 is a top-notch heightened thriller with studied incrementing tension, chilling elements, vicious, brutal crime, and heartless criminals.

That this police procedural has managed to shed light on the woes of a stigmatised denotified community (tribes whose criminal origins are documented from the British era), their lifestyles and desperate way of life, is quite commendable - especially since it comes across as an integral part of police interrogation methods.

Vartika is the one who balances the narrative with her compassion and sincere efforts while the lethality of everyday life in a city like Delhi where the desperate have to grab at ephemeral lifelines to survive, takes on nuanced psychopathic dimensions.

Performances And Direction

The performances are the mainstay here. Gritty, realistic, heartfelt and lethal are some of the adjectives that aptly describe stunning efforts from the entire cast including Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang, Tillotama Shome, and even the not-so-starring players here.

Tanuj Chopra's helming makes the experience both thought-provoking and completely involving.