Delhi Crime Season 2 review: A futile exercise to rope-in true crime fans

Second seasons are crucial for a series. Especially when the first instalment raises the bar to the level of an Emmy award. When Delhi Crime was renewed for another season, I had some reservations. Season 1 was about the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case, whose barbarity wrenched the guts of the masses and stone-cold true crime fans alike. It was perfectly paced, had its emotional notes in place and felt contained. Season 2 felt like milking a dried-up cash cow. My reservations were not completely unfounded.

The premise, however, did seem interesting. Delhi’s posh colonies are hit by multiple murders. The killers invade houses of the elite, specifically inhabited by senior citizens. They wear just a vest and underwear, are barefooted, and smear oil over their bodies to slip away easily if grabbed. They split open the heads of their aged victims with iron rods and hammers, feast on their food, drink their booze, and piss and defecate all over the place. If you are a crime buff like me, you know this is the signature style of the ‘Kachcha Baniyan gang’, whose members were part of the Denotified tribes (DNTs), community groups that were labelled ‘born criminals’ during the British era. Things seem a bit ill-fit when Shefali Shah’s DCP South Delhi, Vartika Chaturvedi, and her team are put on the trail. Although the series rests on the pillars of facts, the crimes that occur are purely fictional. This seems a bit jarring after the rooted tonality of season 1. Since these gangs have been prevalent in different parts of the country, the series, this time, loses out on authenticity.

Starring: Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang

Directed by: Tanuj Chopra, Rajesh Mapuskar

Streaming on: Netflix

There are aerial shots of a fog-covered city, blue-tainted hospital corridors with flickering tube lights and dim yellow interiors of posh habitats, Delhi Crime 2 still lacks bite. The previous season was criticised for white washing the police. This time, the virtue signalling becomes overbearing, almost caricaturing the authorities. In a scene, Shefali’s Vartika at a press conference tells the media not to connect the tribes with the murders, going against the orders of her superior. “Delhi Police is working 24 hours to ensure the safety of citizens. We are not going after a tribe but the criminals who did this crime. Print this.” I wouldn’t be surprised if the dialogue was followed up with the Delhi Police’s ‘Dil Ki Police’ theme song.

After playing the calm yet comically scheming Shamshu in Darlings, Shefali gives an over-intense performance. Vartika seems too posing, too ‘in-charge’ and her expressions are forcefully stoic. Other memorable characters like Rajesh Tailang’s Bhupender Singh, Vartika’s resourceful subordinate in the first instalment, seems underutilised. His investigative powers are rarely explored. There is only a build-up of his relationship with his daughter, whom he wishes to marry off, and that too felt forced. Rasika Dugal’s Neeti Singh suffers a similar fate. We see her level up to the role of an ACP from an IPS trainee in the first season. On the domestic front she is battling her husband’s sexism but at work she is still a caregiver to the victims’ families.

The underlying theme of the show, since season 1, has been that the genesis of crime lies in the tussle between the haves and the have nots. “In Delhi, you don’t get anything by asking, you need to snatch it,” an accused tells Vartika. Delhi Crime 2 tries to sell the same wine in a different bottle.