Black Warrant takes place in India’s largest prison – quickly revealed to be a mere factoid, rather than a feat.
The Netflix series is set almost entirely in Central Jail in Tihar, on the outskirts of Delhi. Black Warrant begins in 1981, when the prison is a smaller version of its present self but already notorious as a hotbed of iniquity. Struggling to wrap his amply oiled head around Tihar’s culture of embedded graft while remaining tethered to his conscience is the young recruit Sunil (Zahan Kapoor).
Prison boss Tomar (Rahul Bhat) tells Sunil that everybody at Tihar is a snake – but only some bite while others get bitten. Sunil descends into this viper pit with hair partly neatly down the middle, perfectly pressed clothes, and every intention of serving honestly. There will be many occasions for Sunil to question his beliefs, from the open corruption practised by Tomar and his lackeys to the antics of fettered men fiercely guarding their turf.
Sunil joins Tihar alongside Vipin (Anurag Thakur) and Shivraj (Paramvir Singh Cheema). They soon learn that the first rule at Tihar is that the rules are not set by the jailers but by the jailed. Three gangs have carved up Tihar between themselves, running their rackets through bribes and threats.
Celebrity prisoner Charles Sobhraj (Sidhant Gupta) is a gang unto himself. Like Hannibal Lecter but without the cannibalism, Sobhraj becomes an unlikely guide for the frequently floundering Sunil.
The Hindi show is based on the real-life Sunil Kumar Gupta’s memoir Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer (Roli Books), which he co-wrote with Sunetra Choudhary. Black Warrant is packed with truth bombs about Tihar. Cynical jailers, rampant bribery and human right violations led Gupta to observe that “dealing with incarceration and the incarcerated does strange things to the mind”.
Gupta’s chronicle has empathy for poor inmates and sociological insights into the nature of imprisonment. The book’s title refers to the final black-lined notice of hanging issued to convicts on death row.
In the series, created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh, Sunil’s initiation is interspersed with the hangings of prominent convicts. This device leads to a feeble debate on capital punishment, alongside producing absurdist comedy revolving around the hangmen.
The episodes directed by Motwane, Singh, Ambiecka Pandit, Arkesh Ajay and Rohin Raveendran Nair gloss over the political prisoners at Tihar, such as the Kashmiri militant Maqbool Bhat. The show is more interested in the scrawny line between law upholders and law-breakers.
Black Warrant goes over well-trodden territory in its depiction of the brutalities of prison life. The production is a bit too spiffy to give a proper measure of how grotty an Indian jail can be.
The series somewhat distinguishes itself by emphasising Sunil’s struggle to remain honest. Was it a member of the Haddi gang backed by Anil (Vinay Sharma) or the Tyagi gang led by Sunny (Pratap Phad) that killed a snake on the premises? Why is there a shortage of blankets?
Sunil’s never-ending orientation tells him more about his superiors than the convicts. The show leaves us in little doubt about who the real criminals are, whatever their stripes.
Heinous acts of violence on the outside find uncomfortable parallels on the inside. Cinematographer Saumyananda Sahi and production designer Mukund Gupta emphasise the similarities between the jail cells and domestic settings. Barred windows and cramped rooms hem in the jailers, as do their individual stories.
Menace shadows the narrative, making for occasionally gripping viewing. Yet, Black Warrant sometimes mirrors Sunil’s dipping energy levels when faced with impossible situations.
The portions about the gang wars tread water. Black Warrant glancingly tackles the debates raised by Sunil Kumar Gupta’s memoir about the state’s fundamental attitude towards prison management and prisoners.
Small victories are intercut with – and undermined by – setbacks, which create a mood of resignation. There is the paradoxical proposal that Sunil must persevere with his nobility even though he is strafed for it.
Diffident, nervy and often passive, Sunil traverses an emotional arc that the still-buffering Zahan Kapoor is hard-pressed to convey. Comically prim and literally upright, Sunil is upstaged by the proudly odious Tomar.
Rahul Bhat superbly portrays Tomar’s concentrated perversion. Bhat aces the muscular body language and arrogant manner of a man with amply greased palms and zero interest in reforming convicts.
Joy Sengupta and Pushparag Roy Choudhury have well-considered turns as players at the top levels of the Tihar ladder. Anurag Thakur overdoes Vipin’s mimicry of Tomar, but comes into his own in the final two episodes.
The women barely merit attention. They include a scolding journalist with a conspicuous wig (Rajshri Deshpande). A subplot about a lusty housewife is a pleasant distraction until it loops back to the larger theme of all-round incarceration.
Tihar suffocates everybody, Black Warrant ominously says. As the walls close in, the characters gasp for air, as might some viewers too.
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