Safety first...
Juanita Kakoty
Telly Review
The Crime Patrol episodes on Sony TV are as gripping and well made as they are shocking. This series of dramatised real-life crime events in India can boast of good narration, tight scripts, brilliant acting and direction
As I see it, the episodes are a breath of fresh air in Indian television, a relief in the midst of family and relationship sagas that repeat themselves and drag on endlessly.Produced by Optimystix Entertainment, created and directed by Subramanian S Iyer, and developed with Neeraj Naik, the Crime Patrol stories are shot in real locations, in real backdrop, and cover recent crime happenings across the country. One can find hair-raising stories here about the dark side of human beings, and their mysterious evil deeds. The series so far has shown real-life, unbelievable stories about how a son eliminates his parents for the sake of property; how a wife, burning with rage, gets the mistress of her husband killed; how a husband kills his wife so that he can marry his sister-in-law, as is the custom in his village; how a teacher sexually abuses his student and threatens him to keep quiet; how a rich woman, her husband abroad, living with her two school-going children is killed in broad daylight by her domestic help; how a husband, in a fit of rage, silences his nagging wife forever; how a Romeo falls in love with a girl he sees on the street, stalks her, continues to harbour love for her without even knowing her name or ever talking to her, and kills her when he proposes marriage and she refuses, etc, etc. Such are the gruesome tales that have actually happened to people and they make one shake with the terror of what human beings are capable of.
However, respite comes from the fact that a subtle underlying theme of the series seems to suggest that the evil cannot be forever shrouded. It shows how the Indian Police fights these crimes, cracks puzzles, puts two and two together, tracks down culprits, and brings them to book. The series, in fact, have played a major role in projecting how efficient the Indian Police can be and has been.
Crime Patrol first started as a reality show in 2003 but gradually transformed into the current dramatised form of storytelling, which undoubtedly is more captivating. Yet, as much as one could thrill over the series, a fear lurks: What if these stories provide ideas for perpetrating crimes? To this, anchor Anup Soni would say, “Be careful! Be watchful! Every crime is preceded by a dastak : Signs and signals. Learn to recognise them.” And indeed, a characteristic element of Crime Patrol is to bring out the why and how behind a crime, to recognise the circumstances that can lead to crime, to attempt an understanding of the changes in behaviour of a victim or a perpetrator in order to detect a crime. It makes a good study of what could incite crime and who could be a perpetrator or the victim. In that sense, Crime Patrol is educative besides the dose of mystery and suspense that it provides. Along with capturing the promptness and efficiency of the Indian Police, it manages very well to keep the faith rolling.
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