Hell On Earth:
A fresh faced law graduate takes the job of a jailer in Delhi’s hellhole, Tihar Jail, because that is the only job available at the employment exchange, and his family is in financial trouble. His naivete, honesty and social conscience will take an inevitable beating by the end of seven episodes of Black Warrant, but he also appears as the one who might just manage to retain his humanity and sanity, because he is not totally corrupted by the system.
In the excellent, but grim series created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh, the slightly-built Sunil Kumar Gupta (Zahan Kapoor), whose uniform hangs loose on him, shows that he has the spine and persistence to survive in a job nobody really wants. “Jails are trash cans,” he says at one point, “and we jailers are the lids. The stink rubs off on us too.” He understands that people turn to crime because of poverty, which is why Tihar has a large number of innocents and undertrials, who cannot afford bail.
Initially, nobody takes Sunil seriously and he gets the job on the recommendation of Tihar’s most notorious inmate, the stylishly dressed Charles Sobhraj (Sidhant Gupta), whom he does not recognize, despite his media hogging. Jails are run not by the staff, but by the prisoners, he is told, and it does seem to be true. The changing Superintendents have little clue about what really goes on, but the cynical, shrewd and corrupt deputy Rajesh Tomar (Rahul Bhat), maintains an uneasy peace in the overcrowded jail, by letting the gangs rule, and looking the other way as booze, drugs and weapons are freely circulated. The other two assistants with Sunil are the tough Sardar, Shivraj Singh Mangat (Paramvir Singh Cheema) and the uncouth Haryanvi, Vipin Dahiya (Anurag Thakur). The prissy-looking, vegetarian Sunil, who refuses to use profanity, whose neatly oiled hair and moustache that make him look even more boyish, is not expected to last, but he is the one who actually adapts better than the macho louts. The real life Gupta co-wrote, with Sunetra Choudhary, the book, Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer, on which the series is based.
The time is the Eighties, and episodes of the series tell the stories of real characters; apart from Sobhraj, there are the notorious child killers Billa and Ranga, Kashmiri militant Maqbool Bhat, protesting JNU students; events from that period, from the 1983 World Cup victory, the Khalistan movement, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the Sikh genocide are woven into the script. The episodes are directed by Motwane, Singh, Ambiecka Pandit, Arkesh Ajay and Rohin Raveendran Nair with empathy towards the degrading conditions in the jail, but also a clear-eyed understanding of what the inmates and the staff go through. As the stressed and alcoholic Mangat says, some of the inmates will be released, but the jailers undergo a “double life sentence.”
Gupta’s first bout of toughening comes when he witnesses the hanging of Billa and Ranga. Over the show, he learns to swear like the worst of them, starts eating non-vegetarian food, but also has the idealistic temperament that allows him try setting up a legal aid cell and to glimpse the mythical Tihar peacocks, while Tomar looks increasingly weary and constantly incensed, as he has to balance the power structures set by the gang leaders, his personality hardened by his own cruelty and pessimism. He advises Sunil not to trust anyone. “Everyone here is a snake. Some bite, and some get bitten,” he says.
The series takes small detours into the personal lives of the men, but not enough to distract from the relentless bleakness and violence of the male prison. The women’s section is not seen, and the wives or girlfriends have little to do. Rajshri Deshpande makes a brief appearance as a scoop-chasing journalist. There are absolutely no rose-tinted clouds over this black world. Over the years, from what appears in the media, things have gotten worse in the prison system. All the talk of reform and human rights seldom move beyond the paper they are written on.
The actors are all perfectly cast, and perform with sincerity, from Rahul Bhat with his many shades of grey to Zahan Kapoor, who keeps up with his zigzagging character arc. The supporting actors, even the ones with non-speaking parts, add to the authenticity of the characters they portray.
Black Warrant is not an easy watch, but a gripping one.
(This piece first appeared in rediff.com)
