A close look at the grime in crime journalism

Scoop
Hindi (Netflix)

Director: Hansal Mehta

Cast: Karishma Tanna, Harman Baweja, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Rating: 3/5

There was a time when underworld dons shared bits of information with crime journalists, baiting them with the sensationalism of their stories. The stories had zero social value but crime journalists were always chasing them, putting their own lives at risk. Famous crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey was killed in Mumbai on June 11, 2011. Another journalist, Jigna Vora, was implicated in the case and arrested in November 2011.

‘Scoop’, a web series on Netflix, lays bare these stories from a decade and a half ago, keeping J Dey’s story as a background. The series is based on Jigna Vora’s book ‘Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison’ which details her ordeal after she was booked and jailed under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Directed by Hansal Mehta, the series documents how half-baked stories are sensationalised in the dog-eat-dog world ruled by TRPs and exclusives. Jagruti Pathak (Karishma Tanna) is an ambitious journalist trying to make it big in the male-dominated world of journalism. Cut-throat competition and dependence on police ‘sources’ trap her in a web not easy to get out of.

In judicial custody, Jagruti sees a different world. The characters in her journey are as important as she is. Her boss Imran Siddiqui (Zeeshan Ayyub) stands up for her until she is released and also tries to connect the dots. The policeman with a ‘personal interest’ in Jagruti (Harman Baweja), who feeds her with information and misinformation, repents his action later.

The series has a great ensemble of strong and unapologetic women characters, played by Inayat Sood (Jagruti’s protege Deepa), Tannishtha Chatterjee (chief of a rival newspaper), and Tejasvini Kolhapure (Rambha Ma). The reference to Sadhvi Prajna Singh Thakur (Sadvi Ma, played by Shikha Talsania) as someone who helped Jagruti deal with jail is interesting.

The narrative is gripping even without any display of blood and gore, getting deep and dark with each passing episode. However, it misses a chance to add more nuance and drama in its anxiety to stay true to real incidents. Perhaps that is also what makes the series so convincing.

Some scenes are hard to digest. Jagruti tries to build a rapport with her underworld sources by giving them gifts. When someone calls claiming it is gangster Rajan, the journalist believes him without an iota of doubt. Were crime journalists that credulous?

An interview with Jigna Vora towards the end reveals her struggle to come to terms with what happened to her. “Why me?” she wonders. Today she lives a life that involves no journalism–she is a tarot reader, astrologer and believer in karma.

‘Scoop’ serves as a reminder that vested interests can push crime journalists to a point of no return. The story is even more relevant today, when organised crime is on the decline and police narratives dominate every crime story.