Netflix’s Delhi Crime Wins International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series, First Indian Series To Win This Honour!
Back in 2012, when the Nirbhaya gang rape case made headlines, Delhi was termed the rape capital of India. And India was shamed the world over for its apathy towards violent crimes against women. Today, eight years later, a gripping thriller series that portrayed the fictionalised aftermath of that heinous crime and the police investigation that led to nabbing the rapists has brought India honour on an international scale. Richie Mehta’s Delhi Crime on Netflix, headlined by Shefali Shah and starring Rasika Dugal, Adil Hussain, Rajesh Tailang, and Yashaswini Dayama, amongst others, has won Best Drama Series at the 2020 International Emmy Awards.
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The award was presented by Prodigal Son actor Tom Payne and Game of Thrones actor Indira Verma. Shefali Shah, who played Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vartika Chaturvedi in Delhi Crime, posted a video of the winner announcement and you can hear her screaming with euphoria as the series was announced the winner! Director Richie Mehta, who was presented virtually to accept the honour, was equally surprised and made a little speech as well, with a heartfelt dedication to women.
“I dedicate this award to all the women who not just endure the violence that so many men inflict on them, but are then tasked to solve the problem. Finally, to the tireless mother, and her daughter. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about you both and what the world subjected you two to. And I hope none of us ever forget that.”
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Some of the other cast members also shared their reactions. From her Instagram stories, we know Yashaswini Dayama was watching the ceremony live and her reaction was pretty much similar to Shah’s! Rasika Dugal , Rajesh Tailang and Adil Hussain also posted about the honour on their Instagram.
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Also Read: From Fleabag To Four More Shots Please!, Realistic, Relatable Women’s Stories Are Making Waves At Award Shows!
Congratulations began pouring in from everywhere for the cast and crew of the series.
#DelhiCrime wins the Emmy @iemmys International Awards for Best Drama. This is EPIC!!
Congratulations @RichieMehta @ShefaliShah, @rajeshtailang & whole DC team & everyone at @netflix
Big Big Hug & Huge Congratulations! 💥💥💥💥
More Power ✊🏾
— Guneet Monga Kapoor (@guneetm) November 23, 2020
Huge congratulations to the entire team of #DelhiCrime – a brilliant show that is deserving of all the love coming it’s way! @ShefaliShah_ #InternationalEmmyAwards @NetflixIndia
— Masaba (@MasabaG) November 24, 2020
Oh my Goddddd! #delhicrime won!!!! @iemmys @RichieMehta @NetflixIndia @RasikaDugal @ShefaliShah_ @_AdilHussain 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Sayani Gupta (@sayanigupta) November 23, 2020
The 48th International Emmys were held virtually from the United States on Monday, November 23 at 9.30 pm (IST). From Indian OTT, we had three contenders who could’ve brought home the awards. Amazon Prime Video’s original series Four More Shots Please was nominated for Best Comedy Series, while the platform’s Made In Heaven headliner, Arjun Mathur, was nominated for Best Performance By An Actor. It was quite an honour to be nominated amongst the best of the best in international television. And there was also a sort of longing to win, considering this was our second year being nominated. Last year, at the International Emmy Awards 2019, Sacred Games was nominated for Best Drama, Lust Stories was nominated for Best TV Movie or Miniseries, and Radhika Apte was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Lust Stories.
It’s ironic, isn’t it, that Delhi Crime becomes the first Indian show to win an Emmy, mere hours after #BanNetflix was trending on Twitter, and days after OTT platforms were brought under the purview of the I&B Ministry, thus opening them up to censorship and regulation? We all know that unchecked control over what viewers can and cannot see could morph into unwarranted censoring of content, or worse, propaganda.
