Black Warrant review: A gritty and hard-hitting dossier of a Jailer of India’s most infamous prison!
Black Warrant review: A gritty and hard-hitting dossier of a Jailer of India’s most infamous prison!
What: The preconceived impenetrability of Tihar jail and its machinations is demystified with flair and panache by Vikramaditya Motwane who lends an impeccable articulation and cinematic layout to Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury’s source material in Black Warrant.
Black Warrant web series synopsis
1981, Delhi. A young and timid 20-something Sunil Kumar Gupta (played by Zahan Kapoor) with two bachelor’s degrees in hand, appears for an interview for the post of warden in Tihar jail where he is asked about the reason behind the judge breaking his pen’s nib after signing an execution order, which is precisely called the Black Warrant. We don’t see what he answers then and there, until we visit the last episode of this fascinatingly spread seven-part series that profoundly chronicles his stint in India’s most unforgiving prison and the in-depth experiences in dealing with the harsh realities, corrupt practices and injustices within its confines.
An amusing yet shocking brush with a functional psychopath infamously addressed as the bikini-killer (played by Sidhant Gupta, redeeming his stoic Pt. Nehru from Freedom at Midnight with a delicious extended cameo here) who secures Gupta’s job, an episode where a poor picket who can quickly benefit from a slight reduction for a reward of catching a reptile is brutalized and pawned in an ego-game of warring gangs, to an unpleasant meeting with a reputed journalist from Indian Express, Protima (Rajshree Deshpande) covering the dreaded Ranga-Billa interview to pleasing a middle-aged woman’s plea to access Jail ka Khaana so that she wards off the evil eye, Black Warrant lays a solid cinematic layout while nurturing Gupta’s ordeal of endurance, grit and passion for work ethics at its emotional core.
Staying faithful to Gupta’s and Sunetra’s 2019 book bearing the same title which served as the raucous memoir of over three decades of high crimes and misdemeanors, Motwane and his team of co-directors (Satyanshu Singh, Arkesh Ajay, Rohin Raveendran Nair and Ambiecka Pandit) conjure a clumsy and complex world of Tihar that harbors the most notorious criminals and instantly suck you into it.
A world that looks ugly and unkempt not just at a physical level but is quietly devastating and painfully evocative when Motwane and co-creator Satyanshu peel off its layers with an unflinching yet empathizing critique on the decaying moralities. In one scene, Sunil reveals the unfair societal gaze at his job – how the jail is viewed as a trash can and how they, despite being the custodians of its inmates, are perceived as its lid, emanating the stink. That is more scathing than his bro-code colleagues playfully mocking at his deficient physicality and docility. Ajay Jayanthi’s somber background score and Kunal Sharma’s sound design help the emotions to sink in when the viewer navigates that world. Not all the chapters from the book are adapted, but the show creators have intelligently skimmed and molded into seven hefty episodes that grasp the ethos and secrets of the prison in all its wilderness and whimsy.
Nuanced direction, an impeccable period recreation (prod designer Mukund Gupta), meticulous costumes (Shruti Kapoor), swooping camerawork especially observed during the action sequences (Photography: Saumyananda Sahi) and stupendous performances are the hallmarks of the enterprise. Straddling a realized arc with a great deal of earnestness, Zahan Kapoor exploits his inherent decency and the legacy Kapoor charm to play the protagonist who was termed as the jailer with a soul and a high degree of conscience. Notice the trauma on his face when blood splashes over him during a gang war, the way his face glows while conversing with this girlfriend, the awkwardness with which he swallows a mutton piece during a date or the spirit to fathom the caustic remarks from his mother on his job, Kapoor brings in that vintage old-world charm reminiscent of Shashi ji, while evolving on a curve that sees his Gupta as a misfit rookie officer to a tactful and poised professional in the dark cells.
It is Kapoor’s best performance given the sprawling ground he is given to express myriad emotions and get involved in a variety of dynamics with his volatile superior, DSP Rajesh Chauhan(a brilliant Rahul Bhat, wearing a constant grudge and grimace on his face) and his raw and impish fellow wardens – Dahiya and Mangat, played by the incredibly talented Anurag Thakur (of Garmi fame)and Paramvir Cheema( Tabbar, Chamak, Sapne v/s Everyone) respectively. An uninhibited flush of maa-behen expletives with a macho and extroverted façade shines on Thakur as he gets into the skin of the Haryanvi cop, while Cheema underplays his part with restrain and calculativeness that certainly leaves an impact on the viewer’s psyche. Tota Roy Chowdhury, Rajendra Gupta and Joy Sengupta render vital parts with full justice.
While Gupta is shown responding to the question, I spoke during the start of my review which suggests breaking a chain of misfortunes and darkness, the show interestingly insinuates a potent follow-up while it culminates on a playful musical note, focusing on a postcard mentioning ‘Ta-Ta’!
Black Warrant review – final words
I am going with 4 stars out of 5 for Black Warrant. The 7-episode series is jointly produced by Motwane’s Andolan Films and Josy Joseph’s Confluence Media and is streaming on Netflix from 10th January 2025.