Dancing On the Grave Review: The Amazon Prime Video Original 4-part true crime documentary series is an unscripted account of the infamous 90’s murder case targeting Shakereh Khaleeli, written and directed by Patrick Graham. Set in Bangalore, the series has been produced by the India Today Originals Production and co-written by Kanishka Singh Deo.
-Dancing on the Grave Review Does Not Contain Spoilers-
Using archival footage, old media clippings, interviews, and dramatised reenactments, the runtime of the four episodes ranges between 29-36 minutes, all of which dig into the mysterious and sudden disappearance of Shakereh Khaleeli (maiden name Namazie), a renowned and wealthy heiress. The series premiered on Prime Video on April 21, and has been restricted to an audience older than 16 years of age. The series of exclusive interviews of official and legal personnel, family members and even the lesser-heard narratives in this special take us through the old happenings around the case, with a section also dedicated to the claims made by the perpetrator himself.
Dancing On the Grave Review: Discussion
The documentary series even brings in a clinical psychologist to study his testimonies and actions. Dr Prerna Kohli takes a look at his responses and body language during the last episode and she notes what probably will go through most of the viewers’ mind after watching the series. Not once does the accused demonstrate repentance in any form. “The magnitude of the sin committed” doesn’t ever cross his mind and is merely consumed by thoughts of himself.
Even if he’d been continuously claiming his innocence upon being found guilty, his lacking humane conscience speaks for itself and the docu-series makes sure to capture it by speaking for his former luxurious and extravagant tendencies (post Shakereh Khaleeli’s death) in the title itself – Dancing on the Grave. As also highlighted in the episodes, the greyness of Shradhananda’s character even makes you question if he’s culpable or not, however, you can’t help but notice how distant he seems from his innate humane touch.
Conversely, one can’t ignore the constant mentions of divisive class denominators either, with a repetitive focus on the way he looked and what he wore, as opposed to Khaleeli’s initial ways of living. But it all figures into the mystery of it all ultimately since the motive driving this crime was plain and directs our attentions towards Khaleeli’s wealth and properties.
When you watch the trailer for the same, the same employment of the class jargon is used to Namazie’s reality come to life as a “larger than life character”. The interviews and the testimonies make it a point to raise the stakes with the case by mentioning how it became one of the “rarest of the rare” happenings. However, living in today’s age, we’ve come to accept various shades and faces of crimes, that none of it can be passed as a rarity, so that sense of distance can be felt by the new-age viewers while watching this case of the early 90’s unfold.
A lot of angles are interleaved into the story. Other than the major class divide at play, Patrick Graham also weaves in the influence of media on this case in the early days, especially since it was being captured on all sides by everyone. Then Murali Manohar Mishra’s supposed identity as a ‘Godman’ also plays into the mystery that eventually broke out, and took shape as what looks a lot like the plot of Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam.
Dancing on the Grave: Final Thoughts
Prime Video has finally ventured into the land of truth crime documentaries, and watching this one will catch you off guard as initially even I ended up believing that this must be yet another Netflix series. Unlike most Netflix series, this one actually brings in the accused perpetrator, Murali Manohar Mishra aka Swami Shradhananda, and lets him talk, allowing us a detailed insight into the two sides of the stories even if we all may bend towards one side of it.
Moreover, it’s interesting to see how the documentary keeps it grey through and through. While the many interviews make it a point to remind us that Shradhananda was the criminal in this case, Shakereh’s enigma is fleshed out in a way so as to accentuate upon her flaws and controversial decisions and thought-process in life as well.
The four-part Dancing on the Grave series is now streaming on Prime Video.
Also read: Chimp Empire Twitter Reactions: Viewers Find Chimpanzee Feud Interesting, Say Real Cinema is Back