By Durga Chakravarty New Delhi, Sep 1 : “Yeh Dilli shehar madam Ji, yahan maangke, the nahi milta, the cheen ke leni padhti hai’is a line that is unique to the Indo-American filmmaker Tanuj Chopra who directed ‘Delhi Criminal 2’, which is playing on Netflix.
“Delhi Crime 2” opens with the murder of a quadruple in an upscale south Delhi area that creates fears among the population and further exacerbates the class divide in Delhi.
The series is based on the tales of the brutal “Kachcha Baniyan group that caused a flurry of terror in Delhi, the capital city of the nation in the 1990s however, with twists.
Discussing the gulf between the wealthy and the poor and the less fortunate being viewed with suspicion, Chopra told IANS: “I do not know if the financials are the only measure because there is certain expectations.There are definitely certain expectations that people have regarding what they should be getting.I believe it’s more about your bank account balance, and more about the things you believe you deserve.”
Chopra who debuted in 2006 with the film “Punching at the Sun’, which was nominated for the Humanitas Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and also spoke about the dialogue uttered by actress Tillotamashome: “‘Yeh Dilli shehar hai madam Ji, yahan maangke, Nahi Milta, cheen ke the sun’.”
“The line was unique.Delhi is beautiful, however, it’s also difficult for the people who live in it.It’s an aspirational town with a lot of people.When you’re hungry, you consume whatever you can.This is the ethos of many of large cities, which we don’t want to miss.It is beautiful, but it also frightens.”
“Delhi Crime 1” was inspired by the Nirbahaya gang-rape that shocked the entire world in 2012.The show was awarded the Outstanding Drama Series award at the International Emmy Awards in 2020 and became the first Indian series to be awarded the award.
In the 2nd season, the producers picked a story inspired by the notorious “Kachcha Baniyan” group of the 1990s, but with an unexpected twist.
Chopra declared: “People don’t know much about this group.They were extremely organized and required us to conduct quite a bit of research.
In Season 1 they could rely on the viewers to know the specifics of the investigation.
“But the world didn’t have a clue about our case.Therefore, we had to help people aware of who these people were who we were chasing.”
Looking ahead, Chopra hinted that a Season 3 could be in the near future.
“We always debate what makes a good case.I’m thinking of something that shows another aspect of Delhi that we haven’t yet explored.Something that happened on a bus or in the streets.It could be interesting to know an instance involving the higher end of Delhi.”
dc/arm
