Shefali Shah on portrayal of police officers in 'Delhi Crime 2': They're human, not super cops

New Delhi: Actor Shefali Shah on Monday said the second season of her acclaimed series "Delhi Crime" aims to present police personnel in a humane manner rather than treating them as "super cops", as commonly seen in mainstream cinema.

Shah is reprising her role as DCP Vartika Chaturvedi in the upcoming installment of the acclaimed Netflix drama, scheduled to premiere Friday.

"These are real people. They are not larger than life, they were never meant to be. They are human, they are not super cops. They are not completely right or wrong. They are trying to deal with the situation to the best of their ability," the actor told reporters.

She was speaking at a promotional event here and was joined by director Tanuj Chopra, co-stars Rasika Dugal and Rajesh Tailang.

Not just the portrayal of cops, Shah said the show itself is a peek into real life where the viewer is a bystander.

"It's almost like watching it voyeuristically. Like there's no camera, you are sitting there and just watching this whole thing play out." The "Darlings" star also said she is unsure about taking up another cop role after "Delhi Crime".

"Never say never, but after playing Vartika, why would I want to do another cop role? Firstly, I'm not sure if I'll be able to match up to that. Secondly, I have explored her. Also, it gets very limited as an actor. The point is to do more stuff of different kinds," she added.

Shah, who recovered from COVID-19 on Sunday, said Delhi is a place that is close to her heart.

"I shot 'Monsoon Wedding', 'Delhi Crime' one and two here, and I won my National Award (for 2007's 'The Last Lear') here. It is very special for me," the Mumbai-based actor said.

Filmmaker Richie Mehta, who directed the first chapter of "Delhi Crime", is attached as the creator of season two.

The new chapter sees Delhi Police probe a spate of serial killings, leading to fears about the resurgence of the notorious 'kachcha-baniyan gang', which was at its peak in the 1990s.

Chopra, who took over from Mehta for the second chapter as showrunner and director, said a lot of research went into setting up the new installment.

"You have to see what was done before, see the language that was established, and how to carry the look and the feel forward. We have to look into the characters and their back stories, not just what's on screen but also what's off screen," he said.

But maintaining the rhythm and energy while making "Delhi Crime 2" was a challenge, added the director.

"I had such good actors... They took my challenges away from me. It's just energy. Our production was shut down due to the pandemic. We had riots in the city. A lot of things happened over the last three years. It wasn't filmmaking... The challenge was keeping the energy, endurance and the story together." If you don't have a good team, you don't have a good show, added Dugal.

"Filmmaking is a collaborative art... there's nothing you can do on your own. It's almost imperative to have a good creative collaboration especially between directors and co-actors. I feel very nervous to be on a project where I don't have that and mostly I have been lucky in that department," she said.

Tailang said he was able to reach out to more viewers, especially the youth, courtesy OTT platforms.

"I was able to explore different characters further. OTT has definitely supported my career a lot," the actor, also known for web series such as "Mirzapur" and "Selection Day", added.

"Delhi Crime" season two also stars Adil Hussain, Anurag Arora, Yashaswini Dayama, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Gopal Dutt, Denzil Smith, Tillotama Shome, Jatin Goswami, Vyom Yadav and Ankit Sharma.