Finally, Netflix forays into Kannada with crime series

Crime Stories: India's Detectives!, is a observational documentary on Bengaluru's four shocking crimes

Ever since Netflix India launched its ‘India South’ account on Twitter in July, the Kannada audience has constantly demanded more original content from the streaming giant. With just four Kannada original films in its platform as of now, Netflix has not engaged much with the Kannada consumers on social media.

The announcement of ‘Crime Stories: India’s Detectives!’ has finally brought some cheer to fans. The four-episode observational docu-series, shot entirely in Bengaluru, will drop on Netflix on September 22. Directed by N Amit and Jack Rampling, the series is on the four shocking and puzzling crimes handled by the Bengaluru police.

The series is produced by Minnow Films, which had previously bankrolled similar documentaries set in London and Manchester. ‘Crime Stories: India’s Detectives!’ is touted to be India’s first observational documentary.

The core group of the series is from Bengaluru. Apart from N Amit, the other local members of the team are producer Tarun Saldanha and associate producers Richa Bhavanam, Sandeep Jain and Naveen Kumar J.

The two-minute trailer shows police officers and other officials speaking in Kannada while there is a small presence of English as well. It will be dubbed in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.

“The series began in 2018, when Bhaskar Rao was the Bengaluru police commissioner. Right from when we got the news of the offence till we closed the case, the crew followed us. The team had access to even the control rooms. It was shot in real-time and nothing was re-created,” Mangaluru police commissioner N Shashi Kumar, who was the then DCP North in Bengaluru, tells Showtime.

Kumar says it gives a glimpse into the thorough functioning of the department. "There are hundreds of hands working behind each case. Police as a department is portrayed as a hero and not just one particular individual," he says.

The series will show how police nabbed the criminals behind two gruesome murders. The other two episodes are about a stolen one-year-old baby and a software engineer who killed her mother in KR Puram.

While giving a rare glimpse into the complex and challenging inner workings of the investigations, the series tries to display the emotional moments experienced by the police.

“A policeman, as an individual, goes through a lot emotionally. You will see the inside life of police officers, who toil hard day and night. Bangalore City Police is known for its competence and professionalism. I think it is reflected in the series. I think certain misconceptions about the police department will also be exposed. For example, if there is an offence, people would want the culprit to be nabbed in 24 hours. The comprehensive show of the department will be seen in the series,” says Kumar.