After Dahmer, The Raincoat Killer, Worst Roommate Ever, and Conversations with a Killer, Netflix has tried to milk the true crime genre with another docuseries — Beast of Bangalore: Indian Predator. While it was a hotly anticipated release, especially after the previous installments in the series — The Butcher of Delhi, The Diary of a Serial Killer, and Murder in a Courtroom — became massive hits, nothing is fascinating about it. The story is well-put, the narration, and direction is alright too, but there is hardly anything that gives it an edge over what has already been done before.
Ashwin Rai Shetty is the series’ writer and director; Samira Kanwar, Vatsala Aron, and Niharika Kotwal are the executive producers.
Beast of Bangalore is based on Umesh Reddy, a policeman-turned-serial killer who allegedly killed 18 women and was convicted in 9 cases. The Karnataka High Court sentenced him to death in 2009, and the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to a 30-year term in 2022 after he filed a mercy petition. According to the docuseries, his criminal record goes back to 1996 when he was posted in Kashmir as a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer and attempted to rape a commandant’s daughter. He fled to Chitradurga district in Karnataka, and later joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police, which was not aware of his record with the CRPF.
The docuseries takes the audience through his criminal history and shows how he chose minors, sexually assaulted them, robbed them, and left them naked in the street. But not the gore or the heinousness of his crimes, what stands out is the inept nature of the police and the judicial system. That said, it’s unclear what the makers are really trying to tell you. While there is a solid attempt to shock the audience with his crimes, it doesn’t really come through.
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Nothing different this time
Beast of Bangalore features narratives by lawyers, activists, police officials, and others involved in Reddy’s murder cases. Ashwin Shetty also explores his backstory by showing his childhood. The writing is authentic and not one-sided, but when everything comes together, the docuseries only feels like a long-drawn news telecast.
If you’re someone who is simply interested in crime as a genre and likes to stay up-to-date with criminal histories, then Beast of Bangalore is a one-time watch. But if you’re the kind who likes to binge-watch such shows to dig deep into the vices of humanity, it may disappoint you, compared to other great shows that Netflix already has in store.
Pick a side
At the end, Beast of Bangalore attempts to depict how the rule of the law is trivialised — but the idea comes across as half-baked at best. It appears that Ashwin Shetty wasn’t really trying to do that, and the point never drives home. Did he want to sensationalise and create horrifying optics or just give us the story in one place? He certainly didn’t do the first one right, even though he tried hard.
Even in the cat-and-mouse chase with the cops, Umesh doesn’t appear as a wicked killer on the run who has baffled authorities and is fighting them tooth-and-nail. It just appears that the police doesn’t quite know how to do their job, which is already no surprise.
If you’re looking for excitement, consider adding something else to your list. Beast of Bangalore is a decent watch to understand the cracks in the system, but know that it is going to be long. Three almost hour-long episodes feel pretty drawn out at the end.