Black Warrant Series Review – Insightful emotional and entertaining

The nail that sticks out gets hammered. This old proverb is perhaps most suited to the environs of prisons (or jails as they’re more popularly called in India). Those who blend into the crowd and the milieu, tend to avoid the misgivings. Those who refuse, tend to bear the brunt. It’s a theme that is most prevalent in director Vikramaditya Motwane’s new OTT series Black Warrant. This 7-episode series based on the infamous Tihar Jail is an entertaining and riveting exploration of everything that was wrong with the correctional institutions in India.

The show is based on the book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer. It was written by the former superintendent of Tihar Jail, Sunil Kumar Gupta, who chronicled the trials and travails of his prison during the 1980s. The story picks up in 1981, when Sunil Gupta (played by Zahan Kapoor) was appointed the Assistant Superintendent in Tihar. Young, meek and frail, Sunil Gupta looks like a misfit in the big, bad world of incarcerated criminals and their immoral enforcers. Even his own family is wary of his career choice. But the young man decides to persevere and pursue idealism. Through the 7-episodes we see the bad, worse and worst side of Tihar. The episodes work around the infamous inmates of the prison complex. There are familiar names like Billa-Ranga, Maqbool Bhat, Charles Shobhraj and many more. But they’re mere chapters in the larger story of Tihar’s enforcers. The final episode, titled “Double Umar Qaid (double life sentence)” sums up the emotion of the show, when a key character Mangat (Paramvir Singh Cheema) says life in Tihar for the officers is worse than that of the criminals. The inmates get a single life sentence, but the officers experience the suffering and exasperation that equals a double life sentence.

Gupta’s involvement at Tihar isn’t just about his survival, it also encapsulates his growth as a human being. The reserved and under confident lad finds his a passion to usher in change and bring reforms to the Indian correctional system. He gives importance to the living conditions and rights of the inmates, over his own ambitions and life goals. It creates a problem for his co-workers Mangat, Dahiya (Anurag Thakur) and Tomar (Rahul Bhat). But Gupta’s focus on righteousness remains unfazed. His character has an impressive arc and it allows Zahan Kapoor to shine in a career best performance. He shows flashes of brilliance that are reminiscent of his grandfather Shashi Kapoor and that’s no lightweight compliment.

The most intriguing are Gupta’s interactions with Charles Shobhraj (played by Sidhant Gupta). Zahan and Sidhant feed off their characters like absolute pros. Their scenes together are the highlight of Black Warrant. The efforts of Vikramaditya Motwane and his directorial team (Satyanshu Singh, Ambiecka Pandit, Arkesh Ajay and Rohini Raveendran Nair) create captivating moments throughout the show. The production design, cinematography and editing are all excellent, too. Motwane’s productions are always on point with the technical aspect of filmmaking and Black Warrant, streaming on Netflix, is no exception.

This is a must watch show that manages to strike a fine balance between human drama and socio-political history. There are all the usual plots of a prison story – gangs, corruption, murder, incompetent governance and prison break. But there’s also sublime details of perseverance, faith, friendship and superstitions that make this an easy binge-watch.Black Warrant is a funny, insightful and entertaining show on Tihar Jail’s chequered history. Continue reading …Read More