The Very REAL Women Of Delhi Crime: Good, Flawed, Or Evil…

Feminism, Women Empowerment, Womens’ Rights: Most significant subjects for a fast developing India, and there have been myriad of movies and web-series dedicated to the same.

But more often than not, many of these stories revolve mainly around men, with sporadic dialogues breathing feminism down our necks.

Our screens abound with ‘unreal’ women

It’s a cliché always; independent women are portrayed as conceited, ultra modern, adultering, drunk, expletive mouthing she-devils. These go as the signs of their strength.

Then you have those ‘Sanskaari Bahus‘, all powerful in their ability in bonding a joint family and mending broken relations.

And God save us from the TV vamps; they manipulate men, their husbands, sons, bosses, almost everyone around them. There’s no question about why perhaps are they like that. And who wins the battle? The stereotypically empowered women, of course.

That’s why the women in Delhi Crime 2 are so refreshingly different, both the good and the bad ones. They are mothers, wives, grandmothers, professionals, evil, flawed, but so relatable.

*A few spoilers alert

Shefali Shah’s DCP Vartika Chaturvedi

Take DCP Vartika Chaturvedi’s (Shefali Shah) character for instance.

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She is ruthless when dealing with criminals and her seniors, she doesn’t mince words, she comes straight  to the point. But she’s a mother, she wishes to speak to her teenager everyday, she’s caring and strict, both in the right measure. She has a meltdown when her daughter misbehaves, but later she gets her act together and patches up with her child as well. Not for once does she sermonize her daughter about sanskaars, shed tears or deliver overly emotional dialogues. Nor does she assault the criminals physically or abuse them as a show of power.

Vartika is a working mother like many of us, who does balance work and family, and the message is subtle but strong.

Rasika Duggal’s ACP Neeti Singh

Neeti Singh (Rasika Duggal) is newly married, and her husband and in-laws are unhappy with her erratic working schedule. Her face reflects her predicament, she can’t go on a vacation, the work is stressful and her husband cribs almost all the time.

She doesn’t smile excessively through her anguish, nor does she weep or scream at the drop of a hat. You can see she’s tired and trying her best to manage work and family together. At one point she loses it, she spells it out to her husband, that their marriage was a mistake. But there are no unnecessary tears, foul language or victorious background scores involved. Neeti turns up at work as usual and when asked if she’s alright, she mentions she has Domestic Issues. That’s it, no melodrama.

The vile 70 year old grandmother

There’s a 70 year old grandmother, vile and vicious. I am not glorifying her character, but unlike the quintessential grandmother, this one is aware of her rights, doesn’t whimper and whine, nor does she beg with anyone to protect her ward.  She’s been in a criminal background, there are no emotions, she’s old but not breaking or vulnerable.

I wouldn’t want to divulge the story, so just mentioning here, not all female offenders are socially wronged women or victims of abuse. There is no justification for crime, man or woman and this is aptly depicted in Delhi Crime 2.

In short, the series is all about women, the protagonist is a woman and so are many significant characters. And they are regular women, they wear regular clothes, they err, they struggle, they succeed. But they deal with all of this normally,  there is no over the top  drama. And this is what sets the Delhi Crime 2  and it’s women apart.

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