Delhi Crime’s International Emmy feels like a personal win

One of the lead actors of the series, Shefali Shah, shared a video on her Twitter account of the win.

The Netflix series Delhi Crime won an International Emmy in the ‘Best Drama Series’ category on Monday night.

The 48th International Emmy Awards Ceremony was streamed live on their website. One of the lead actors of the series, Shefali Shah, shared a video on her Twitter account of the win. Her shouting out OMG, OMG, OMG, in delight, made up as the background score of the video clip. Sitting in my home, in Dubai, I joined her in the happy dance, for the award on many counts felt like a personal win.

The announcement took me back to March 2019 when intrigued by the reviews of the series, I watched the seven-episodes based on the brutal gang rape of Jyoti Singh on December 16, 2012. All of us remember the gory details. We decided to call Jyoti, Nirbhaya, the fearless one. As I watched, a question rang in my head and refused to be silenced — When and why did we stop being angry? The bite marks on her face, callous face of evil, pain on the faces of her parents, hunt for regret on the faces of the perpetrators, moist eyes of the cops, guilt, inefficiency of some in command, candlelight vigils…I continue to be in awe of the craft behind the series. The deft in acting, sensitivity, timely-required usage of swear words, hopelessness, earnestness to fight…There are many takeaways from the show, anger being one.

Often, anger is a brief expression of resentment, mistrust and injustice. It’s good when it stays such, a wave of high-intense emotion that engulfs us for a while. For, if it continues to live, it proves harmful. It’s one of the stages of grief, and soon enough we learn not to be angry. But in some cases, should anger die? As I reached the last episode, I felt angry just as I hoped that the series reached to the masses. I prayed that the then ‘Trending’ on Netflix opened up many eyes. For if stop being angry — we’re telling evil, we’re one with you. Because if we see shows like Delhi Crime and say, ‘Oh, what’s new? We’ve seen this.” — we’re telling evil, we’ve embraced you like the regular, the everyday. Yes, the lives of our daughters can never be a mere content source. But, if a ‘drama’ version of the oft brushed aside ‘truth’ manages to make us sit up in our air-conditioned living rooms, we don’t have much to lose. And that for me is a win, I’d been rooting for all along. The faces of each of the brilliant actors have stayed with me — from Shefali Shah’s depiction of what warriors are made up of to Rasika Duggal’s depiction of the strength of a woman, and Adil Hussain’s depiction of what backbones look like to Yashaswini Dayama’s depiction of how it feels to be young, vulnerable, yet stand up. Not to forget, Jaya Bhattacharya’s representing dedication to her job, combined with humility and strength.

A shout out to the executive producer, writer, and director Richie Mehta for showing up the courage to narrate this tale. I hope that the rawness and faith of the series continue to serve as a reminder for all of us to not only be angry but also know what to do with that fury. In his acceptance speech, Mehta said: “This project was led by women, it was financed and put together and released by women, this crime was solved by women. This is for the courage of those women and all the women who not only endure the violence so many men must inflict on them but are then tasked with solving the problem. And finally, the fearless and tireless Asha Devi and her daughter Jyoti Singh. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about you both…I hope none of us ever forget.” I hope that their work haunts us, and like Mehta, we continue to remember the women, who suffer, fight, and inspire.

purva@khaleejtimes.com