Black Warrant: En sursis

Black Warrant kicks off 2025 with a firework of tremendous performances, brilliantly directed by a visionary showrunner on the solid base of some terrific writing. This is a show which excels in every aspect as it transports its viewers back to the 80s and right into the middle of Delhi's infamous Tihar Jail. The series follows the transformation of a young and naive Jailer as his principles and identity are challenged by the diverse grey characters and situations that encircle him.

The story feels very realistic and is further grounded in reality by the splattering of real life criminals and incidents through the season. The authors of the original novel have done a great job in capturing the working of Jailers, the operations of the gangs, the divide between the poor, rich and famous behind the walls of Tihar. The social isolation of the Jailers both within and outside Tihar has also been captured really well.

Every actor in the series has done a great job and fit very well into their characters even if they have a small appearance as a Journalist, an accountant, a gang member, a lawyer or Tihar's most infamous prisoners like Ranga, Billa and the one and only Bikini Killer AKA Charles Sobhraj. Siddhant Gupta is just phenomenal as Sobhraj as he charms his way through every scene and showcases how the Serpent exerted his influence over almost everyone who came across his path.

Rahul Bhat is exceptional as the DSP in charge of the 3 new Jailers. His character is very nuanced and well written as he juggles multiple gangs, influential individuals and his family while walking the thin line between right and wrong. Paramvir Cheema and Anurag Thakur do justice to their well sketched out characters as the Jailers who are much better suited for their jobs as compared to the the main protagonist of the series.

However the breakout performance of the series is the completely unexpected and brilliant portrayal of the fragile rookie Jailer Sunil Kumar Gupta by Zahan Kapoor. Sunil Gupta starts the series as a complete misfit in this hostile prison surrounded by an unforgiving mix of grey characters on both sides of the law. Zahan is a Kapoor unlike all the generations of Kapoors that have entertained audiences for almost a century, yet there is something about him that feels a lot like the artistic and experimental side of his grand father Shashi Kapoor during his early collaborations with Merchant Ivory. Zahan doesnt look like the stars Prithviraj, Raj, Shammi, Shashi, Rishi or Ranbir Kapoor but he feels like artists Prithviraj, Raj, Shammi Shashi, Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor.

Zahan channels his character's inner anxiety and lack of confidence so effectively that the audience quickly start to feel for him and come on board on his challenging journey. Zahan masters the accent, his character's mannerisms, his fragility, his innocence, his inner strength, his wisdom, his resolve and desire to make things better.....he becomes his character.....he is Sunil Kumar Gupta. His performance is so good that I wished that Shashi Kapoor was still alive to see his grandson shine in this exceptional role. A really tender, emotional and transparent performance. Loved it. A must watch Series. 9/10.

Firstly, there is no plot, but episodes of the series divided into different stories with different circumstances, basically anthology series. I came in it with very less expectations thinking they would show the prisoners side stories, the human rights violation, gangs and torture etc, but it wasn't like that the story is been showed from the side of police officers who handle those prisoners, this was the first time I watched something from police's perspective.

Everyone, here apart from that punjabi jailer did a great acting here, I would have rated it 9 if this person had some good contribution to the series.

Every episode puts the jailers in a new positions to deal with and how NOT everything is not in their hands, they also have to listen to the prisoners to maintain leave in the jail, it can't be anarchy ki jisko marna hai maro.

I was impressed by Netflix, and gonna thank them for this series, we really need these kind of shows in the Hindi cinema when garbage movies like Singham 3 and Bhool bhulaiya 3 are on the rise. Please do promote these kind of series to maintain the authenticity and good quality writings.

A good one episode per day will Make your week and GOOD ONE.

After long time, watched an indian web series that made me binge watch it to complete season non stop... Art direction, screenplay, the direction, cast all is... Too good!!!

The acting and the story fabricated with the real life cases of Tihar jail.

As foretold in many movie and series that How Prison itself is a world of its own. The place has its own charisma, rules and order that needs to be followed in order to survive.

The series beautifully narrates the lives of people connected with a prison. Some scenes felt like a poem and some felt like a ruthless scene of crime drama.

It was set in 80s and it truly delivered the time era to its audience. The color, telephone, mail, bus etc everything take one back to the time.

It was raw and real. The main protagonist who due to lack of job joined a job to be a jailer and how he never gave up on the idea to become a good one despite the society not in good terms with a jailer's family.

And most of all, The Charles character who speaks English was way ahead classy. I assume the next season (Hopefully) revolves around his lifestory.

This series needs patience to dive into it but after completing one episode you can feel the portrayal of prison life... The series explores Tihar Jail through the raw and unfiltered reality of prison life.

Zahan Kapoor Rahul Bhat is the star of the show their performance makes the show believable from the very first frame. But what sets Black Warrant apart are the characters.

The storytelling is exceptional. It's a perfect example of how visuals can enhance the emotional weight of a story.

Direction 3.5/5 Screenplay 3/5 Acting 4/5 Cinematography 4/5 Music 3.5/5 A must watch show if you are fan of Vikramaditya Motwane sirs work 💯

Its well made with new talents who can really get the audience with their emotional coastal ride, the struggle between good ethics corruption then survival is shown, with little abrupt ending, The last episode is rushed, but the acting for the cast members pull of the show very well, its a conflict between humans with ethic and human who sell their ethics just to survive the harsh reality of jail life, the corruption the tiredness of trying to do something good in harsh society life behind the bars is shown in an authentic way. These series are thousands time better than what Bollywood sells as movies.