The Talwars: Behind Closed Doors

I don't know why, but this one didn't draw me in like most true crime docs. Maybe because I had just finished 'Who Killed Garret Phillips' and that one was gripping start to finish. There have been a ton of high quality true crime docs that have raised the bar on expectations. But this one was a bit of a mess. Not only in the police work surrounding the crime, but in the presentation by the doc team.

"Behind Close Doors: the Talwars" (2019 release; 2 parts; 170 min.) is a documentary about the Talwars. As Part 1 opens, it is "October 16, 2017", and we see the Talwar husband and wife are being released from jail. We then go to "December 2010", when the couple is interviewed on TV: "we have no idea what happened on that night." We then go to "Naida, India" (near Delkhi), and we get to know young Aarushi, the daughter of the Talwars, an upper-middle class family with several housemaids and servants. The documentary then shifts to "Day 1 , May 16, 2008", as it appears then 14 yr. old Aarushi has been brutally murdered, as well as one of the servants... At this point we are 15 min. into the documentary...

Couple of comments: this documentary is from Singapore-based HBO Asia, and brings in gripping details the account of the double murder that caused a media sensation in India a decade ago. So much information is crammed into this documentary that it makes the head spin, and at times it all felt a bit overwhelming. Also contributing to this feeling is the outright chaos by the media (in particular TV media) as they roam the relevant places, including in the Talwar residency (you have to see it to believe it). The Indian authorities don't do themselves a favor either, with the mind-blowing ineptitude among the Naida police corps. But the best comes in Part 2 of the documentary, with yet more twists that will bewilder you. And how does it all end? I'm not going to tell you. Just watch!

"Behind Closed Doors" premiered on HBO earlier this week over 2 evenings (and is now also on HBO On Demand). I love me a good true crime documentary, and this one certainly delivers. I readily suggest you check this out, be it on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

This documentary has quick subtitles or people with very thick Indian accenst, so hard to follow it's just not worth it. Should have had a narrator in english, otherwise gave me a headache.

The Reporter working on this documentary Arshad shareef was brutally killed. He was working upon the story for a very long time, than after the government of shareef brother is established in Pakistan he has to ran away from the country. But that was in vain. He was chased and was killed brutally in Kenya. His murder is still mystery, His wife is still walking through the courts for justice but she is still not served with the justice yet. Hopefully she will get the justice one day and the Culprit will be punished if not here in next life they will surely be punished. I don't know about other people working on this but Arshad shareef was a great journalist. May he rest in peace.

Well made, good presentation, good interviews and well laid out for providing the audience with a gripping tale of this horrific crime. Star World needs to be credited for delivering such a TV-series, which not only informs, but allows the viewers to connect with the various evidence, plots and characters. The show develops chronologically, emphasizes on points that stood out in particular in Court, and around which the main confusion or rather insufficient evidence revolves, dictating the fate of the people captured within the spectrum of the crime. The show concerns itself with all the investigations led by different teams of Police and CBI. It also provides no partial speech or inclusion to favor a side or to give a verdict on the case. It leaves it open to interpret by providing the FACTS of how the story of the night of Aarushi's murder transpired to how it is in the present.

Apart from showing the details of the case and how the media and society led due process of the investigation, it also highlights the irregularities with the evidence procured and presented in front of the Court, resulting in altering the state of the Talwars and how India recognized them and the case. This series can be used as a mirror, a mirror to reflect the inefficiency of the Anti-Crime units in India. A mirror for the judiciary, transpiring to mere precedents, but holding the worth for ascertaining future judgments due to insufficient evidence. Overall, the series could have been a little more in-depth, but that would require choosing sides as digging deep in this case would result in hard prejudices, unequal representation and devoid character. IT could have but focused on certain rulings and corroborated them with interviews. I understand the position of the Talwars is delicate, but they should have been questioned a little more strictly and purposefully.