Shefali Shah says Delhi Crime was made with a lot of ‘sensitivity’ and ‘responsiblity’: ‘It could have been sensationalized’

The actor said, “I think earlier there was a predominant wall, particularly for women. When you look back at the 60s and 70s, there were films made for women and with women at any age group such as Aandhi, Anupama and Aradhana. Then came a period where the heroine had a shelf life, and they didn’t know what to do with real human beings beyond the age of 22. But now stories are being told such as Tumhari Sulu, Lipstick Under My Burkha. That is moving. I have to give it to somebody else having paved that path for me. Whether it is Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, somebody was working on that line.”

Shefali also talked about working on a show like Delhi Crime Season 1, which is based on a real-life case, and how it demanded extreme sensitivity. She said, “One thing that occurred to all of us while creating it, starting with Delhi Crime 1, was that when you are particularly creating a show or a film on a real life case, you need immense sensitivity and it is a lot of responsibility. People have already gone through it, you don’t need to come back and rub it in their face. Delhi Crime was more about the five days that followed after the incident. It could have been sensationalised, but it was not.”

Talking about how they did not go out of their way to celebrate the Emmy win, the actor said, “When we won the Emmy for Delhi Crime, we could have gone all out and celebrated in whatever way. But we all know that the show was about somebody who was terribly hurt, it was a loss of life and we won on that show.”.

After commencing her career in theatre and television, Shefali Shah entered the world of cinema through Ram Gopal Varma’s blockbuster film Rangeela (1995) and Satya (1998). Nevertheless, it was her role in the TV soap opera Hasratein (1997) that earned Shah recognition. She continued to garner critical acclaim for her performances in Kabhie Kabhie (1997), Raahein (1999), Dariya Chhoru (1999), Monsoon Wedding (2001) and Gandhi, My Father (2007).

In 2009, Shah earned her first National Film Award as Best Supporting Actress in Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear. However, it was her portrayal of DCP Vartika Chaturvedi in the Netflix series Delhi Crime that brought Shah global recognition. While the show’s first season won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series, her acting in the second season led to her nomination in the Best Actress category.