What extent would a man go to when he learns that there is no alternative to make a living other than work in a prison inhabited by some of the most despicable people on earth? The new Netflix series Black Warrant, created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh, is a coming-of-age drama of the darker kind. It's a twisted variation of a workplace drama in which we see the usual workplace politics, disagreeable colleagues and bosses, and... bland food. Here's a man who begins to feel like Abhimanyu inside the Chakravyuh the minute he steps into one of the large prisons in India to become an Assistant Superintendent.
Zahan Kapoor is perfectly cast as the ASP; he is a revelation as Sunil Kumar Gupta, the baby-faced dude with a diminutive figure and ill-fitting uniform whose future in this particular line of work becomes highly doubtful after a series of trying situations test his mettle. From the first episode titled 'The Snake' to the finale, Sunil gets to experience his share of extremely taxing events that bring about a loss of innocence episode by episode. In the first episode, when he gets tainted by the blood of another man, it becomes a visual metaphor for his first psychological scar. The ritual becomes nearly complete when, in a later episode — and this is not a spoiler — Sunil spills his own blood in an ugly altercation, this time earning a visible scar.
Speaking about ugly, Black Warrant is characterised by the same raw and gritty edge that marked some of Vikramaditya Motwane's earlier work, especially his work with Anurag Kashyap in the other Netflix series, Sacred Games, or Motwane's Amazon Prime series Jubilee. You see the filmmaker revisiting some of the emotions he previously explored in films such as Udaan, Trapped and Lootera. I couldn't help but think of the father-son conflict in Udaan when observing the tense dynamic between the characters played by Zahan and Rahul Bhat.
Rahul Bhat gives us his finest performance yet — as Sunil's immediate superior, the Deputy Superindentent Rajesh Tomar, who has a more realistic and practical way of looking at things instead of letting idealism get in the way. You get the sense that Tomar was a once-idealistic man like Sunil, but, eventually, extreme cynicism took over, and now he is a middle-aged man telling Sunil that he is still a child and that he needs to stop looking at the world with rose-tinted glasses.
There are scenes where Rahul Bhat reminded me of the angry young man roles of Anil Kapoor, or even the angry old father of Ranbir Kapoor in Animal. Also, I couldn't help but think of the heated confrontations between Tyrion and Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones.
However, Rahul doesn't play Tomar as an entirely loathsome figure. It's not hard to imagine why he thinks the way he does when you look at things from his point of view. He is simply a product of a system that failed to acknowledge his efforts — a system that favours the more privileged and well-connected — a system that rewards those who may not have put in as much sacrifices as Tomar did.
And since this is a story of a naive and innocent young man being baptised in a cesspool, Motwane and his team of directors don't shy away from the most unsavoury, disturbing aspects of the true events chronicled by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury in their book of the same name.
Thankfully, these events are treated with a sensitive touch; the filmmaking approach is such that it aims to unsettle the viewer by having the unseen aspects of a haunting crime play out more in their imagination instead of opting for a gratuitous depiction.
Some of the chilling flashbacks, particularly the black-and-white episode with the criminal duo Ranga-Billa, reminded me of the film adaptation of Truman Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood. (If you haven't seen it, you should, because it's one of the best true-crime dramas ever.)
Oh, and a special shoutout to Sidhant Gupta for conveying the creepiness, charisma and "celebrity" persona of the infamous serial killer Charles Sobhraj in superbly convincing fashion.
But not everything in Black Warrant is dark and gloomy. The show finds some time for light and romance for Sunil. I loved that restaurant scene where Sunil solidifies his connection with a young woman while talking about Dharmendra movies. These scenes and dialogues feel so fresh and genuine, unlike the typical outdated and cliche-ridden romance scenes we often see today.
Motwane and his team deserve massive applause for creating a coherent, meticulously crafted show that looks at every element that defines its principal characters and those around them. Black Warrant is one of the finest crime series in the Indian OTT space that sits comfortably alongside other shows of its ilk like Paatal Lok and Kohrra.
Series: Black Warrant
Creators: Vikramaditya Motwane, Satyanshu Singh
Cast: Zahan Kapoor, Rahul Bhat, Sidhant Gupta, Paramvir Singh Cheema, Anurag Thakur
Rating: 4.5/5
