Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh’s latest Netflix show Black Warrant grabs your attention from the first few seconds – a rarity in the streaming space these days. A young, meek man Sunil Kumar Gupta (played by the dynamic Zahan Kapoor) applies for a job as a prison officer in the highly-populated and understaffed Tihar Jail.
‘Tihar’ is not a word many are unfamiliar with – it is rarely said out loud without an edge to one’s voice and this seven-episode series attempts to show you why.
The show is based on a book by the same name (‘Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer’ to be specific) written by journalist Sunetra Choudhury and Sunil Gupta, a former superintendent at Tihar. While the show, set in the 80s, focuses on the gritty power dynamics between the jailers and the inmates, the narrative singles out a few sensational cases that played out during Gupta’s time which only adds to its intrigue.
Creating this show required a delicate balance – how does one show this world without pushing viewers away with the expected brutality of its setting while not white-washing reality? For the most part, the makers find that balance. With every passing day, Gupta changes but not in the way everyone expects him to – he carries himself in a hunched demeanour, his speech often littered with awkward mumbling. He’s a fish out of water but one that has the conviction and belief that he can make it on land. Across the seven episodes, with his inner turmoil twisting into something much greater, this conviction starts to tower over the doubts.
His senior, DSP Rajesh Tomar (Rahul Bhat), commanding and selfish, still spends his time departing nuggets of wisdom to Gupta – most of it feels condescending but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful. Over the years, definitely hardened by the demands of his job, he has come to a very basic realisation – power and reputation is everything.
“We don’t run the jail, the prisoners do,” is his first briefing to Gupta and the two men joining the same day – the brash Vipin Dahiya (Anurag Thakur) who has no qualms against violence and the burly Shivraj Singh Mangat (Paramvir Singh Cheema) who cuts the kind of imposing figure everyone expects from the profession. Kapoor’s stillness is contrasted brilliantly by Thakur, who plays his role like a flash of thunder, and Mangat is excellent too.
Power permeates every corner of Black Warrant – direct or indirect. Out of 1300 prisoners, 1000 are undertrial and many live in terror inside the prison too. The power structure inside Tihar comprises multiple gangs and the methods they employ to create a system of ‘fear’ and subjugation. Episode 2, titled ‘Phaansi Koti’, is where the show sheds any semblance of a smokescreen. The episode ends with the execution of Ranga-Billa, the duo charged in the Geeta and Sanjay Chopra kidnapping case. Things don’t go as planned and Gupta is reminded of a macabre reality – morality blurs behind these walls.
The only person who seems to stand out in the show’s colour and texture is Charles Sobhraj, the infamous ‘Bikini Killer’ or ‘The Serpent’ (played by the alluring Sidhant Gupta). He carries himself with a quiet authority within the prison’s walls, emboldened by the blackmail he has gathered against senior officials – all his demands are met and he has a knack for what buttons he can press to ‘make friends’. It’s easy to get sucked into his ‘charm’ as Gupta also learns.
There are parts featuring Sobhraj that feel too glossy – the intricate scales of cinema and reality tipping into the latter. But this is Motwane’s specialty so more often than not, he pulls the strings taut and brings the audience back into the show.
There are a few women in the all-male world and, in another rarity, even their lack of screen time doesn’t make their presence feel like tokenism. They tend to feel secondary but they’re played by able performers – especially a firecracker Rajshri Deshpande as a reporter (though if that’s a wig, it’s an unfortunate one like the one on Sobhraj). The show redefines masculinity, primarily through the interactions between Gupta and Dahiya. Dahiya is perplexed by Gupta’s decision to not even cuss and the latter can’t help but want to mould himself into this brash idea of hypermasculinity everyone expects of him. He doesn’t approve of his colleagues' methods but he can’t find a way out.
From student protestors being labelled anti-nationals, police brutality being brushed under the rug with enough people willing to stay silent to a scandal caused by an affair, Black Warrant is unflinching in its portrayal of the happenings of this high-profile prison. Change is the only constant but even with that mandate, some of the most upsetting aspects of humanity can remain the same and despite some dramatisation bordering on excessive, the show keeps this in sharp focus.
Even as we see recreations of chilling crimes, the word ‘reform’ is thrown around; even as we see the toll this job takes on the officers, we see the consequences of their violence. A show like Black Warrant becomes what it is because of this nuance and the insistent refusal to view any of the subjects in black and white.
Behind the camera is Saumyananda Sahi who maintains a stunning texture of an indie on screen while shooting the dank corners and cramped spaces of this prison. One scene where an inmate skitters to the edge of the room after a perceived threat to his life lasts a few seconds but the camerawork is designed so brilliantly that the tension builds and breaks in just the right rhythm. It feels like a piece of theatre brought to screen with due credit to production designer Mukund Gupta and colorist Himanshu Kamble.
Black Warrant isn’t perfect – sometimes cracks appear in the otherwise flawless telling. For instance, some segues the show takes into the officers’ personal lives takes away from the show’s grip on the viewer. A more taut screenplay and a tighter edit would’ve helped.
Ever since I watched Kapoor in Hansal Mehta’s Faraaz, his debut film, I’ve kept an almost subconscious watch out for when I would see him on screen next. His talent is refreshing – the subdued intensity he can bring to his roles while keeping his boyish charm intact is difficult to look away from. And with him on the helm, Black Warrant is a show you won’t easily forget.
The show, presented by Applause Entertainment, is streaming on Netflix.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)