The Indrani Mukerjea Story - Buried Truth
Introduction
If you are a crime documentary fan then look no further! Documentary as a genre has always been underrated given that there is a perception amongst the viewers on how dull can be. But the one thing that people do not consider is how intriguing a documentary can be simply if you could build a narrative by recreating the entire sequence of events through enactment or through some conversations presented in front of the camera. And I have always been a fan of conversations when it did come to crime documentaries because it just gives you different perspectives of the actual crime that has been committed. So when I did get to know about a documentary being constructed about the Sheena Bora disappearance/murder case, I was quite looking forward to it, just as I was during the Arushi Talwar murder case. The documentary titled ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story – Buried Truth’ did promise to be an intriguing one, unearthering the decade old case that had previously shook the nation. But last week when its release was unceremoniously deferred, it kind of felt like a dampner. This, before the honourable court cleared the series only for Netflix to quietly upload it on their OTT channel late afternoon on Thursday. And I finally jumped at the first opportunity to watch and review the documentary, ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story – Buried Truth’, does it manage to impress, let’s find out.
Story & Screenplay
There isn’t much of a story or screenplay that I look to judge a documentary on. Instead, I look to tap into the narrative style which is built up by throwing in different perspectives along the way. And so, The Indrani Mukherjee Story presents the viewers with a brief account of the case with an excerpt from the conversations shared between two sides of an influential family on the day of the disappearance of one of their family members. There is a sense of complexity in the family that begins with the family tree which itself was a tough piece of the jigsaw puzzle to crack. To begin with, the proceedings felt a little rushed with the sole intention of giving the viewers are overview of the case that had grabbed the headline almost a decade ago.
But as you tread along, nothing is what it seems with so many characters and opinions floated that it simply blurs the possibility of a solution while still coaxing the viewers to put together the jigsaw puzzle which is complicated. And therein lies the victory of the makers Shaana Levy and Uraaz Behl along with co-writer Sudeep Nigam. The idea was never to present a closure to the case that is still pending in the court of law but to just lay down the basic facts that had once found its way in the public domain while doing their bit to gather different perspectives along the way. All of it is packaged in an intriguing documentary that makes for a compelling watch.
Episodes And Their Impact
The four episodic structure of The Indrani Mukerjea Story does follow the regular beats of a compiled narrative that maybe associated with a documentary. And there is was no way that a regular narrative could have been formed in the first place, given that the case itself was super complicated with multiple versions of the truth being floated around. The complexity begins with the very first episode that gives an overview about the case including a startling revelation along with the key players involved. This included a brief introduction of some of those players who were only indirectly related to the prime accused of the case, Indrani Mukerjea.
It is only in the second episode that the makers flip the narrative by bringing in the prime accused, Indrani Mukerjea in front of the camera to present her version of the truth(wherein she made for a daunting watch of someone blatantly lying through her teeth as an immediate impression). But before the narrative reaches the ultimate crime scene, you are briefly acquainted with the early life of Indrani which again had different versions of the truth, a fact that could not be differentiated from a lie with only conjectures to fall back on. The series does get murky given the number of links that the case branches into with respect to the family members of Indrani, including her twin ex-husbands, one of whom was co-accused in the case too. The narrative shifts point of views from the media to the ex staff of the police headquarters to Indrani’s immediate family featuring her younger daughter and elder son to Indrani herself. And everytime you feel that you are near to the truth, another unforeseen twist in the tale raises doubts on what the truth actually is. You do feel for some of the characters here before completely changing your views about them. By the end of it, you are left with a lot of questions, this even as the case is far from meeting its closure and the mystery intact.
My Take
As they say, truth is often much more disturbing and buried than what meets the eye. And this line is applicable here too. There are drastic loopholes in both the narratives that do their bit in taking you away from the truth. Yet, it just baffles me on how easy it is for the rich to get away with a crime as severe as a murder. It baffles me even more to see her mother not caring about the whereabouts of her daughter whom she preferred to call ‘her sister’ to begin with. The image conscious society that we live in, is as much about fame and power as it is about money and relationships alone. And as they say, with great power comes great responsibility, a fact that isn’t quite followed in the creme de la creme of our society. And murder might be ‘just another crime for them’.
Conclusion
The Indrani Mukerjea Story – Buried Truth is a brilliantly intriguing documentary revolving around The Great Indian ‘Sheena Bora’ Mystery that accounts for a riveting watch. Available on Netflix and Highly Recommended!