"From a dramatic perspective, the book has hook after hook."
Netflix India’s upcoming series Black Warrant explores Delhi’s notorious Tihar Jail through the eyes of an idealistic jailer who confronts corruption, violence and moral ambiguity within the system.
It is based on the book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jail by jailer Sunil Kumar Gupta and journalist Sunetra Choudhury.
The series details the true story of a prison officer’s 35-year journey through one of India’s most infamous correctional facilities.
A black warrant is a jailer’s authorisation to carry out the execution of a convicted criminal.
During his time working at Tihar Jail, he oversaw prisoners including serial killer Charles Sobhraj.
The series was created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh.
Motwane said: “From a dramatic perspective, the book has hook after hook.
“The first hook is Charles Sobhraj getting in, the second hook is Ranga’s hanging, and then you have hook after hook. I can’t believe this is a real story.”
Singh added: “It is sociology because it is jail, the society of jail, but also how it mirrors the society outside.
“It is political science because it is about resources, it is about liberty, it is about justice. It has ethics, moral philosophy.”
Black Warrant stars Zahan Kapoor, Rahul Bhat, Anurag Thakur, Paramvir Singh Cheema and Sidhant Gupta as the infamous Charles Sobhraj.
One of the show’s most striking aspects is its detailed portrayal of prison officers and inmates, partially achieved through meticulous attention to background casting.
Praising the entire cast, Satyanshu Singh said:
“They only had their presence. Many of them didn’t even have lines.
“They were shooting with us every day, from morning to evening. So they created their own sense of awareness of their own inner life within the prison, and that made our job very easy.
“Very few stories really tell the stories of prison officers and what they go through.
“So I feel like it’s our responsibility to make sure that prison officers should watch the show and say, ‘Thank God someone has said this to the world that we are doing a thankless job where everything is f*****g with our head and there’s no one to take care of us’.”
Each episode has distinct visual treatments for each episode, reflecting the protagonist’s emotional journey.
Motwane explained: “Episode one is fun and games, you’re seeing the world of Tihar.
“Episode two is brutal. Three is hopeful. Four is emotional. Five is even more emotional. Six is gut-wrenching.”
The structured approach allows each episode to maintain its own thematic and tonal identity while serving the larger narrative arc.
Motwane said: “I hope that this series is one of those that can have legs in multiple kind of realms.
“It can appeal to people who like deep, interesting dramas. It can appeal to people who like a slightly voyeuristic, melodramatic, masala approach to certain kinds of things.”
He added that the intent was not to make the series “grim, dark and over-serious” and “not intellectualise it too much”.
