House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths TV Mini Series 2021
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Yadav consciously stayed away from researching the case any further before the filming began. The idea was to peel the layers to the story as the interviews took place with those connected to the case – from the Burari family’s neighbours, friends and extended family to cops, journalists and psychologists. The production covered a total of 400 hours of interviews, and having those conversations was “emotionally draining” for the crew.
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Discovery of bodies
One wonders if telling the story through the female gaze made any difference in it’s narration. The deceased family had seven women and four men, so there was definitely a female perspective in the events. I don’t know intrinsically how different the narrative would have turned out if it was told by a man. I was quite happy to get someone like Hemani Bhandari, the crime reporter on record,” concludes Yadav. Comprehensive, too, are the talking heads brought before the cameras by director Leena Yadav.
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“At that point one wondered that will we ever get answers about the why and how of it all? That stayed with me for a while,” says Yadav, who then met with the documentary team at Netflix and told them that she wanted to explore something on this and they were onboard. But even after a whole year passing, “I knew nothing about the case,” says Yadav. “I knew tidbits, some scraps of information that were blown out of proportion, but I didn’t know the real truth. That’s what intrigued me,” adds Yadav, who has earlier directed films like Parched and Rajma Chawal. The spotlight shifts, a little too late in the series to allow for the kind of in-depth analysis hardcore true-crime fans will crave, to Lalit.
House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths — Season 1, Episode 1
The series wastes no time in getting straight to the heart of what he found there, showing harrowing images the trigger warning at the outset attempts to, but can in no way, prepare you for. The case turned the national spotlight on the bylanes of Delhi’s Burari area, a blow one gets the sense it has still not recovered from, as is often the case with communities at the heart of which something uncommonly rotten emerges. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle. The biggest challenge for Yadav was getting to the truth.
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Mr Gurcharan Singh, the neighbor, said that people gossip for a few months and then move on, but nothing remains the same for those who witness such a life-altering incident first-hand. The Burari Deaths case is still a mystery to some and an incident that they wouldn’t forget till they die. But let it be an awakening for each and everyone who mocks mental health because having mental health problems doesn’t mean that you are weak or a madman.
The Curious Case of Lalit Chundawat
Something about the case stayed with all of them,” adds Yadav, 50. But even members of the (dead) family, who stay in a small town in Indore, don’t know the answers. As the documentary progressed, Yadav started piecing together the story of what led to that fateful day. Was it then really a mass suicide, a case of shared psychosis, or murder? She insisted that the case has no black-and-white answers, but that whatever the cops had discovered until then only skimmed the surface. The documentary series is also one of the few crime series that has been helmed by a woman.
Whatever they say solves a part of the jigsaw puzzle, but could not complete the picture, because ultimately there is no clear consensus even on whether it was a crime story. The conversations with journalists and police officers are candid. The then-SHO of Burari police station seems to be enjoying narrating the experience, but as the series progresses, we realise it is just his general demeanour and that he is also affected by the case. Regaining his senses, he rushed back to inform everyone. Soon a crowd that included neighbors, media reporters, police officials, family members and obviously inquisitive individuals hoarded the locality.
Production country
Of course there isn’t, he says, again as if he is thinking out loud. And you can’t help but admire the directors’ decision to end the show on such a poignant, but potentially provocative note. The access that the filmmakers have been granted in House of Secrets is admirably expansive.
“For me, the mind behind the crime is the biggest catch. Why is crime such a huge genre, across fiction and non-fiction? “There is a certain pleasure we take in watching it, it’s a moment of feeling that we are better than this” adds Yadav. Later called ‘The ‘Burari Mass Suicide case’ by the police and in media circles, the case is the subject of a latest crime docu-series, titled House of Secrets– The Burari Deaths, which has been created by director Leena Yadav. The three-part series streams on Netflix, and has a musical score that’s been composed by AR Rahman.
True to the format, the makers ration information and insight to sustain drama and suspense till the last minute of three-episode series. With the advantage of hindsight and budget, Leena joins the dots to delve into layers of the complex case that, for months, remained in public memory even after it fell off the news cycle. While I’ve never been to Burari, or even that part of town, I’ve lived in this city my entire life. It’s one thing to watch fictional shows such as Paatal Lok and Delhi Crime and admire the attention to detail with which they were put together, but it’s rather distressing to relive a case that truly makes you question the very idea of decency. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands.
A case that was drenched in a concoction of black magic, mental health and above all, in thick strands of the regressive and toxic culture. On 1st July 2018, something so baffling happened that it shook the whole of India and sent shivers down the spine of everybody who heard the story or witnessed it for themselves. A family of 11 people had hung themselves in a neighborhood named Burari in the country’s national capital.
The Crime Branch was also involved, and people didn’t stop in questioning the credibility of the Police forces in maintaining law and order. The local parties were taking advantage of the situation to incite people and further their agenda. For some, this is clearly a cathartic experience, allowing them to work through the apocalyptic event which obliterated three generations of the same family. Although the toll the investigation took on the forensics team is obvious. There are interviews with psychologists and medical examiners, trying to make sense of this tragic ordeal. This series does have an expansive feel and this is a credit to them as it really gives a new level into crime documentaries.
Initially, all the subjects clearly wanted to hide the uncomfortable bits, she said, as all of them kept saying the victims were “good people.” For Yadav, this was a major red flag.
The series begins with the deaths before branching out into the hows and whys. At first, murder is not ruled out, and while it likely felt necessary to follow the police investigation in that brief direction, the entire first episode feels a little like being led up the garden path. A cursory internet search yields the outcome of the case, which is why a deeper dig into the whys might have been a better use of screen time. Presented across three 45-minute episodes, the limited series from Netflix’s original documentary arm offers unparalleled access to both media and Bhatia family home movie footage, as well as interviews with family, friends and law enforcement. The police indicate that everyone dies and that there is no way to predict this, which just infuriated and confused me. The last diary entry is of the macabre “Banyan Tree” ritual that commanded the family members to hang themselves in a formation resembling the hanging roots of a banyan tree, on the premise that their deceased patriarch would save them from dying.
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