Cinema is made of characters, and some characters have a prototype that continues to be a part of several movies without anyone complaining about it. There are only a handful of blueprints to shape them, and not many think of going beyond them to have a different perspective. Like a mother, sheand she is always giving; she is supposed to be waiting for her children if they are late. She is supposed to be the most righteous person in the room and also takes the brunt of the heat if need be. The same is true with the cop, but the intensity is tenfold more. The authentic reflection is created once in many blue moons, and it lands. Otherwise, they are either corrupt righteous, or neglected. Sometimes they are just placed in stories to die.

Once in a while, some filmmakers appear like saviours of the genre and the character trope and break the mould to give us something very interesting and fresh. Rohit Shetty has released his first web series, India Police Force, and no point guessing it is about police officers. While not much changes in his world and these are still quite black-and-white characters, with little to no room for grey, it is not like the Indian OTT space has given us good cops.

The breakout show of the space was about a cop investigating the story of a gangster and he was even prolific (Sacred Games). So while Rohit Shetty has failed to serve us better, there have been many others who have. Today we list down 7 underrated cop performances from the Indian streaming realm.

Also Read: Indian Police Force review - Rohit Shetty's web series led by Sidharth Malhotra is the hard case of missing 'main character energy'

Sonakshi Sinha in Dahaad

Available On: Amazon Prime Video.

Sonakshi Sinha’s bad choices always overpower the good things she does. An actor who also has a Lootera in her filmography chose to enter the Zoya Akhtar-Reema Kagti universe for a show that was about a serial killer and the state of women in a landscape that has all the social problems one could think of. Sinha played Anjali Bhaati, a woman who rose from a marginalised community to become a police officer. It is now her time to show the privileged their place if they do wrong. A character so well-mounted, a performance that deserves more appreciation.

Vijay Varma in Kaalkoot

Available On: Jio Cinema.

What happens when men become the allies of the women who have suffered at the hands of privileged men? Stories of trust are formed. Kalkoot stars Vijay Varma as Ravi Shankar Tripathi, a man bullied almost everywhere he goes for not being manly enough. There is constant pressure to get married, and amid all this is a girl who sees him as a support system and needs help. A story so potent and important, and Varma knows how to showcase his range.

Barun Sobti in Kohrra

Available On: Netflix.

Barun Sobti bloomed with Kohrra, a show that is not violent visually but in the very idea it holds. Sobti, as ASI Amarpal Garundi, is a character written with finesse. There are shades to him, many secrets, some even dark but none transform him into a bad man, but he is always a human on screen. So when he breaks down, he makes you feel his emotions and where he is coming from.

Saif Ali Khan in Sacred Games

Available On: Netflix.

Sartaj Singh will be the guide for many police officer characters to come in the Indian streaming space. Saif Ali Khan, who took the leap of faith and motivated everyone else to be there, played the part so well by not being a hero but a man with vices. There wasn’t a need for bulging muscles or any over-the-top drama; a cop was exploring the story of a gangster while trying to save a city. One of the top-best shows and performances.

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Shefali Shah in Delhi Crime

Available On: Netflix.

Someone in the future needs to do research on how Shefali Shah manages to act with her eyes and make silence her own while making it all look fresh every single time. As Madam Sir, Shah gave the streaming space the most haunting yet important show that gave the Indian streaming space a massive elevation. Shefali’s performance is gold, as she makes you stand in her shoes, and only a few actors can do that.

Rasika Dugal in Delhi Crime

Available On: Netflix.

It is not easy to be second in the lead when Shefali Shah is showing her magic. Dugal in Delhi Crime has had an entire journey. From a rookie police officer to one who can now make decisions, she has come a long way. It took a long time for Indian cinema to reach a space where a woman can have an upward arc as a police officer and a family too. Dugal’s performance never makes you feel like she is acting, and that is a victory.

Saloni Batra and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in Soni

Available On: Netflix.

Talking about female cops who also have families, Soni on Netflix is a gem that deserves to be seen by all of us. A supremely underrated movie set in Delhi, with two women in charge of a police station, both trying to eradicate crime against women on the field but failing to find that balance in the gender politics in their respective homes. The sisterhood between Saloni Batra and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan is gold, and their performances shine.

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