The Indrani Mukerjea Story - Buried Truth Series Review: Whose truth is it anyway?

Truth is at the centre of the conflict in Netflix’s four-part documentary series, The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth. It constantly shifts places and reveals itself in different ways. New people come up with a version of it, some links get tied up to unveil another of its layers, yet, it stays unknown. In the case of Indrani Mukerjea, truth also becomes a liability of a past life that she doesn’t want anyone dwindling over. This is seen in her efforts to not disclose her relationship with Sheena Bora, her daughter, who is introduced as her younger sister to everyone in her new family. This was among one of her ‘truths’ that couldn’t hold itself up. The other ones have still not been completely debunked as the case is still in the courts. The series, however, goes on its own individual journey to present some happenings of the case through interviews and recreations. Far from reaching the truth, what it leaves you with is a strong sense of unsettlement, discomfort and also a question whether it served any purpose after all.

Directed by: Uraaz Bahl and Shaana Levy

Streaming on: Netflix

The nature of the case itself is disturbing to the core. Going into the details of a ghastly murder of a young woman by her own ambitious mother is just baffling to say the least. The closer one gets to it, the uglier it becomes. Along with some family members of Indrani, the documentary also features her as she looks back on her own life, from her childhood to the present. She was released on bail in 2022 and in a rather squeamish scene which is put together as the final shot of the series, she is asked if she murdered her daughter. Acting as if she already knew the question, Indrani replies in the negative. There are multiple times while watching the series that a chill passes over you. Lingering on the mystery that lies in the eyes of Indrani from such a close angle is disturbing to witness. More so when she is upfront in denying everything that she is charged with. The manner in which her interview is shot is also something that incites anxiety as you see her completely separated from her surroundings. The possibility that you are seeing a woman who may have strangled her daughter before burying her in the dead of the night, never fails to escape you. The series doesn’t stop itself from creating an enigmatic image of Indrani such that she brings a certain power on the screen. Perhaps that’s how her persona is. But, is that how the makers want her to be seen?

The series tries to present many sides to the case and just as you start to feel that it has begun to seem very clear, you are taken to the other side. In its style, it doesn’t possess the kind of rigorous investigative quality which documentaries with a similar subject matter usually do. The storytelling doesn’t invite you into its world, but starts to feel sinister with the bleak visuals and eerie background score. There are repetitions of some facts which are recounted by different people and by the end, it feels the amount of information you are fed in the four episodes could easily be grasped after skimming through some articles online. It doesn’t uncover anything for there is nothing to uncover. The truth, which the documentary contests is ‘buried’, was in fact out there in the public domain all this while. The makers seem to be too invested in treating the documentary as a sensation, when in fact, it has been part of the collective imagination for the past decade.

After over ten years since Sheena's death or disappearance, minds have already been made up about the ‘truth’ of the case. The only way to look at the series, then, is to think of it as a testament to the post-truth world which we inhabit. The question is not just, ‘What are the facts?’ but rather, ‘Whose facts are facts?’. By presenting a seemingly unbiased perspective about the entire case, the series goes into such murky grounds. It becomes difficult to understand the point of seeing everything as the perspective it comes from is largely blurred. Even the name itself feels ambiguous. It doesn’t become clear whose ‘truth’ is being referred to here. Is it Indrani’s or Sheena’s? If it is Sheena’s, why is it titled ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story’? In any case, the truth will stay buried for some more time.