“Black Warrant,” the hit Netflix series currently in the platform’s India Top 10 nearly three months after its premiere, was the focus of a panel at the ongoing Cinevesture International Film Festival in Chandigarh, India.
The discussion featured creator-showrunner Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment, and lead actors Zahan Kapoor and Rahul Bhat, who explored the “synergy for success” that has made the prison drama a streaming standout.
Based on “Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer” by Sunil Gupta and journalist Sunetra Choudhury, the series chronicles Gupta’s 35-year career at India’s notorious Tihar prison, where he oversaw infamous inmates including serial killer Charles Sobhraj and and kidnappers Kuljeet Singh (alias Ranga Khus) and Jasbir Singh (alias Billa).
Motwane, also known for Netflix’s “Sacred Games,” explained that the adaptation process required narrowing the book’s extensive timespan. “When you read the book, it’s fantastic because it’s so dramatic. Sunil Gupta gets a job – on the very first day, he’s meeting Charles Sobhraj, who he didn’t know about. Within the first year, he’s in charge of the hanging of Ranga and Billa,” Motwane said.
Rather than attempting to cover all 35 years, Motwane and co-creator Satyanshu Singh decided to focus the first season on just four years of Gupta’s career. “Otherwise, it’d start to become very episodic, just looking at hanging after hanging. Is there any fun in that?” Motwane explained.
The project originated with journalist Josie Joseph and Confluence Media, who initially identified the book’s adaptation potential before approaching Motwane. “Josie reached out to me to say, are you interested? I read the book, got Satya involved, and said, ‘Let’s adapt this.’ We set up, wrote a Bible, wrote two episodes, and then I took it to Sameer,” Motwane said.
The series embraced a mix of established and emerging talent, with Kapoor playing the protagonist Sunil Gupta and Bhat portraying Deputy Superintendent of Police Tomar.
Bhat, known for playing the lead in Anurag Kashyap’s Cannes-selected “Kennedy,” described his approach to the morally complex character: “Any character, even if it’s a villain, you still have to relate to and have empathy towards. You have to represent him. You’re that character’s lawyer.”
For Kapoor, grandson of renowned actor Shashi Kapoor and deeply connected to Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre legacy, his theater background proved invaluable. Motwane praised Kapoor’s contributions beyond acting: “The years at Prithvi have taught him so much about character, drama, story, and script. Such a value add.”
Kapoor was cast through an audition process that Motwane described as immediately convincing: “Within the first 10 seconds of his audition, you know he’s the guy. It was very meta, because the scene he auditioned for was the very first scene of the series when he’s going for the interview.”
“I was always a little bit apprehensive of trying to manipulate and manufacture some kind of image or impression on the audience of who I am. I always found that to be slightly dishonest,” Kapoor said. “I’m much more a product of Prithvi Theatre than I am of the film fraternity legacy.”
“Black Warrant” employed multiple directors under Motwane’s showrunning, a model he believes should become standard for Indian streaming series. “It’s a very efficient model of being able to work, where you can get work done quicker, more efficiently with fresher minds,” Motwane explained.
The series featured five directors total, including Motwane, Singh, Arkesh Ajay, Rohin Raveendran Nair, and Ambiecka Pandit.
“As a showrunner, you can detach a little bit. The importance for me is making sure that my character arcs are being served in the way we set them out right in the beginning,” Motwane said.
Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment highlighted their production approach of making content before securing a platform. “When we’re doing this, there’s a little bit of butterfly in the stomach that you’re taking a lot of decisions that other people now have to like before the audience likes it,” Nair said. He praised Netflix for understanding their vision: “With all due credit to Netflix, they got it straight away.”
Regarding star power versus ensemble casting in streaming, Nair offered: “In the series business, these are longer stories, deeper stories, richer stories. You get a chance to get an ensemble cast, find new actors, and surprise audiences.”