Delhi Crime Season 2 review: Shefali Shah renders a masterclass in acting in this gripping second season

4/5

STORY: Why would a violent gang spring back into action after being inactive for over two decades, is a question that DCP Vartika Chaturvedi (Shefali Shah) finds herself asking as the captial city grapples with a new wave of violent crimes against the elderly: each more grotesque than the other. Delhi Crime Season 2 is a testament to the fact that when a series has a solid script, backed by solid performances, then there's no reason for it to lose relevance. Hopefully, ever.

REVIEW: "Man is born free but everywhere is in chains," a renowned political philosopher once postulated about our notion of living in an egalitarian society. Trouble is, this profound observation was made over 300 years ago, and is, sadly, relevant to this day. Using class distinction as a dominant theme—franchise USP—Delhi Crime Season 2 harps on the brutal treatment of the poor and unimportant; this time guised as Denotified Tribes (DNTs), a marginalized community ostracized during the British era for being "born criminals". 75 years on, the supposed resurfacing of a particularly nasty Kaccha-Baniyan gang from the ashes, and they are sent straight back to where they had started from: handcuffs and police brutality. 

When the Menons were butchered in their plush South Delhi home, the old pair had their heads smashed in with a crow bar by a hoodie-wearing, oil-smearing three-piece team of looters and murderers. Similarly, the Aroras were beyond recognition, too. A quick tour down the haunting lanes of 90s crime stimulates the mind: the modus operandi is that of the DNT-dominated Kaccha Baniyan gang, so they must have done it. Vartika, however, has a sinking feeling about this... an evil force, far more sinister, is at play. 

Riding high on its global success, Delhi Crime S2 is understandably bolder, and mounted on a much larger scale this time around, posing a pertinent question: in the grand scheme of things, who really is the sinner and who's sinned against?

Tanuj Chopra's crime drama goes straight for the kill—absolve the underprivileged of the crimes you think they committed, and driving this point home is a celebrity lawyer "quietly" representing the DNTs, an unapologetic Vartika outing police hypocrisy during a press conference and a community (metaphorically) saying under their breath, "You did the right thing."

Unabashed honesty is the recurring theme of Delhi Crime S2, much like its debut season, but Chopra and his writers do not pander to the crowd-favourite conjecture that the poor is either a rags-to-riches story or a flat-out criminal. The director's stance on living a life that most of us do not understand is marred with complexities, with the poor neither treated as heroes nor demons. Take for instance, two accused, who were not the perpetrators of the heinous crimes, were still shown as thieves always on the lookout for a 'shortcut': the next rich guy they could make a quick buck out of. Debunking the 'myths' sticking around the have-nots is not the motive here, highlighting the biases around them is. 

With this being a multiple-crime-investigation arrangement; the deeply desired 'serial-killing-spree' by fans of the genre, Delhi Crime 2 adds three sociopathic individuals to the hot mix—all callous; one cuckoo. That's when the cat in the cat-and-mouse chase is unleashed upon us: an absolutely fantastic Tillotama Shome (Sir/ Netflix) with her hollow eyes and a conniving smile that cannot be articulated by a sane mind. As the overtly ambitious Karishma, Shome is an embodiment of what entitled behaviour looks like. To cut her murderous wings short, we have the powerhouse of talent, Shefali Shah. As Vartika, Shah has retained her tough-exterior-softie-from-the-inside act, only this time, she is human enough to accept she is human. The actress is a fitting reply to Shome's delusions of grandiosity; an antidote to the illness that is the God complex. 

Speaking of vulnerability, Rasika Dugal's Neeti is brimming with anger and frustration: angry over being unavailable to her family, frustrated over not wanting it bad enough. Neeti's restrained rage finds a comfortable home in the actor; not that she ever disappoints. Rajesh Tailang's Delhi Police jokes come as the much-needed comic relief at regular intervals. The actor is relatability personified, too. The star of the show, however, remains, even in this season, Shefali Shah. 

Another aspect of the show that needs to be credited for its impending success is the absolutely masterful background score by Andrew Lockington (Mayor of Kingstown, Rampage). In a crime drama, a lot of the desired impact relies heavily on BGS, and Lockington hits the nail on its head.

Delhi Crime Season 2 aims not at rendering a social message to the masses, but hammering it down one's system that criminality is, for the love of God, not a poor man's default setting. Point: taken.