The web series Delhi Crime has won the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmy Awards, held virtually this year owing to the ongoing Covid pandemic. The show becomes the first Indian programme to win an International Emmy.
The news was confirmed by the International Emmy Awards on its official page on Twitter. “”The International Emmy for Drama Series goes to ‘Delhi Crime’ produced by @GoldenKaravan / @skglobalent / @NetflixIndia,” tweeted @iemmys, with the tags #India!, #iemmys and #iemmyWIN.
Writer-director Richie Mehta’s seven-episode series has Shefali Shah in the central role of DCP Vartika Chaturvedi and narrates the story of investigation in the aftermath of the heinous Delhi gang-rape of December 2012.
Shefali posted a video on her official Instagram page that shows the award being announced. As soon as the show is declared winner in the Drama Series category, Shefali can be heard reacting with delirious joy. Although we don’t see her in the video, she can be heard shrieking “Oh my God!” several times.”OMGGGGGGGGGGGG OMGGGGGGGGGGGG OMGGGGGGGGGGGG,” she wrote as caption to the video.
In his acceptance speech, writer-director Mehta thanked all the producers, the OTT platform Netflix that streams the show, the casting crew and the cast, with a special mention of Shefali Shah, his parents and wife, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Delhi police team headed by “Neeraj Kumar and the amazing Chhaya Sharma” that helped them bring the show alive.
“The project was led by women, it was financed and put together and released by women, this crime was solved by women, this is for the courage of those women and all the women who not only endure the violence that so many men inflict on them, but then are tasked with solving the problem,” said Mehta.
He paid a special tribute to the victim and her mother. “Finally the fearless and tireless hero of all mothers and her daughter. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about you both and what the world subjected you two to. And I hope none of us ever forget that,” he said.
The fictionalised crime drama series also features Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, Avijit Dutt, Gopal Dutt, Jaya Bhattacharya, Denzil Smith and Yashaswini Dayama in pivotal roles.
Richie Mehta celebrates the win
Indo-Canadian filmmaker Richie Mehta is humbled by the International Emmy win for his web series, Delhi Crime, and says it is the culmination of years of work by hundreds of people.
Celebrating the win, Mehta, director and screenwriter of the series, said: “I never anticipated getting here — it’s the culmination of years of work by hundreds of people, sometimes in total isolation and defiance.”
“‘Delhi Crime’ is a complete labour of love, born out of sadness, anger, frustration, and ultimately, compassion. The entire team from start to finish should take a bow for giving their all to this vision,” he added.
The web series has won the Best Drama Series award at the 48th International Emmy Awards. The show has become the first Indian programme to win an International Emmy.
The Netflix series is fictionalised version based on the horrific December 2012 Delhi bus gangrape case and follows the investigation by the Delhi Police.
It captures the complexities of the scrutiny, and the emotional toll on the investigating team. Over six years of research went into the making of the series, which was shot on location in New Delhi. The series stars Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Rasika Dugal and Adil Hussain.
“Led by Richie Mehta, the amazing cast and crew told an important story with sensitivity and responsibility. Winning Best Drama Series is a testament to the brilliance of India’s outstanding creative community. We hope this is the first win of many for Indian stories that are watched and appreciated by the world,” said Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India.
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