Reviews
Rating: 2/5
"The Indrani Mukerjea Story" finally began streaming on Netflix after being halted twice by the judiciary.
If truth be told, the seemingly buried truth should have remained so. As we witness the unraveling of this devious woman's highly tangled and frankly sordid life in four episodes of interviews with the key figures of this dysfunctional family, we realize that the term "dysfunctional" was perhaps coined for this peculiar family of closeted sociopaths and, if not outright homicidal characters, then potential assailants with highly scheming minds.
While the first episode lays down the ground rules for the Bora/Mukerjea family (or rather, the lack thereof), the second episode is the Sakshat Prakat moment when the lady at the center of the mayhem makes her appearance.
Yes, folks, brace yourselves. Indrani Mukerjea has granted the makers of this misguided crime investigation docu-series a one-on-one interview. Wow! Several veteran journalists (including one wearing a flaming-red coat as if she were afraid of catching a chill on a Scottish winter evening) contribute their invaluable insights on the case.
Some of these journalists, who have followed the case from the start, sounded contradictory and confused. We can't blame them for their fuzzy observations; this is an intrinsically befuddling case. What kind of woman introduces her daughter as her sister and then allegedly murders her?
And why is this woman, with her peculiar accent and frightening eyes, being given a platform to speak? Granted, everyone deserves a chance to defend themselves. But surely, there is a limit to how fair we can be to a criminal mind that contradicts itself at every turn.
Some years ago, Deepa Mehta made a film on the Nirbhaya case, offering the perpetrators the chance to tell their side of the story. I felt the same anger watching "The Indrani Mukerjea Story."
Some crimes are so reprehensible and unacceptable that giving them any space or importance seems like an act of transgression. No, this woman deserves no patient ear. The one whom I truly felt sorry for was Indrani Mukerjea's son, Mikhail Bora. From what he tells us, Mikhail, poor chap, came close to meeting the same fate as his sister. He is the one who escaped the evil eye.
If only we, the audience, were that lucky. Why was this docu-series made? It reveals nothing we don't already know or want to know. The most truthful moment in this rambling anti-confessional is the closing line when Ms. Mukerjea is asked whether she killed Sheena Bora.
"What a stupid question!" she replies.
So true.
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