Black Warrant review: Al Pacino said something about the eyes not lying in Scarface four decades ago. And while the line has taken a romantic connotation over the years, it holds true for acting performances, too. The sincerity and impact of any performance can be gauged by just how well the audience can connect with the performer. In this regard, filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane does well in Black Warrant as he focusses on his actors’ eyes every chance he gets. And even in the less intense moments of this prison drama (maybe that’s a genre now), he excels.
Aiding him is the protagonist, played by Zahan Kapoor who is every bit as wonderful as the man behind the lens, along with a brilliantly brought-together ensemble cast. Like he did with Jubilee last year, Motwane has set the bar for Hindi streaming content with Black Warrant this year. And it’s a rather high bar, too! (Also read: Black Warrant trailer: Jailer Zahan Kapoor struggles to deal with criminals, navigate power dynamics in Tihar)
What is Black Warrant about
Black Warrant is based on the book by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury, about the former’s life as a jailer who worked at Tihar Jail in Delhi. The show chronicles Gupta’s (played by Zahan Kapoor) entry in Tihar as a wet-behind-the-ears novice and his journey to becoming a slightly experienced ‘jailer sahib’. He encounters the enigmatic Charles Sobhraj (Siddhant Gupta), PM Indira Gandhi’s killers, the notorious Billa-Ranga, and quells a strike in the jail. All this while, he is trying to be in the good books of his senior, DSP Tomar (Rahul Bhat furthering his Rahul-naissance) and his colleagues (Paramveer Cheema and Anurag Thakur).
Black Warrant is honest, which is more than what can be said about most shows today. With the proliferation of streaming, filmmakers have become more audacious in their approach, relying on gore, blood, and ‘realism’ to shock the audience. Black Warrant has its fair share of shocks. But none of them are unsavoury. You cannot make a show about the country’s biggest prison without making the viewer uncomfortable. But Motwane shows a way to do that without making what’s on the screen downright repulsive.
The show condenses some timelines, and alters the dates on some incidents, but those are cinematic liberties while dealing with the boundaries of narrating true events. It never tries to take sides, let alone distort facts.
The performances are exceptional
Zahan Kapoor is the star of the show, both literally and figuratively. As Sunil Gupta, he brings forth his reluctance, vulnerability, innocence, and naivety. He does this in the manner of a man with whom he resembles so much – his grandfather, Shashi Kapoor. Perhaps it is an unfair comparison for an actor who is only in his second project, but Zahan does channel Shashi Kapoor’s simple dramatic style in many scenes, right down to that signature pensive stare. He has mastered the rustic lower-middle-class Delhi accent, complete with broken English and an underconfident tone. His performance makes the show believable from the very first frame.
The support cast isn’t any less impressive. Rahul Bhat continues his good run of form as the morally grey (to put it mildly) deputy jailer Tomar. He oscillates between a brute and a family man, the demands of his job and personal life, with such ease that it deserves praise. Paramveer Cheema is a good find. He plays Gupta’s fellow ASP with great depth and finesse. Anurag Thakur brings humanity to the other jailer, a character that could have been a stereotypical Harayanavi caricature, but he lends it some character, aided by the writing.
But what sets Black Warrant apart are the cameos. Some amazing actors bring their A-game in small but significant roles. Siddhant Gupta does an Evan Peters as he makes a serial killer look sexy with his pitch-perfect rendition of Charles Sobhraj, right down to that Indo-French accent. Rajshri Deshpande oozes intimidation as a firebrand journalist who can get the Supreme Court to do her bidding but finds her foil in the mild-mannered Gupta. Tota Roy Chowdhury is as far removed from his Rocky And Rani avatar as the no-nonsense jailer. Veteran Rajendra Gupta lends much-needed humanity to the horrors of the prison in the form of the show’s most ‘normal’ and tragic character.
Where Black Warrant falters
If I have a complaint with Black Warrant, it is with its refusal to take a stand. In its bid to be absolutely objective, the narrative ends up being a bystander. The Billa-Ranga episode was the litmus for me, as the show almost evokes sympathy for them, a rather complex line to take. Regardless of what one of them did or did not do, they are two of the most notorious criminals in modern Indian history: men who assaulted and murdered children. The glamourisation of Charles Sobhraj is another example. The bikini killer is a nice moniker, but his 12 victims may disagree with it. Maybe moral ambiguity is not always the best path to take in a show like this.
Black Warrant is currently streaming on Netflix.