Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer

Released just a couple of months ago, The Butcher of Delhi was either willfully ignorant of its own shortcomings or simply unconcerned about its obvious lack of ...

The Butcher of Delhi was guilty of all this and more. You don’t question the authenticity of anthropologist’s claims for even a second, but the show leaves no room for doubt when it has the investigating police officer in the case spout bigoted nonsense about the Kols moments later. The Diary of a Serial Killer has one key ingredient that separates it from its predecessor: an on-camera interview with the serial killer himself. What separates a good true crime documentary from a poor one, in most cases, is its ability to examine the circumstances behind the crimes, and to present well-argued explanations for why they were committed. With the help of detailed recreations and expert voices ranging from the police to prison inmates, the show examines a series of killings that happened in rural Uttar Pradesh over 20 years ago, perpetrated by a man who, among other things, was also accused of cannibalism. [true crime documentaries](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/bad-vegan-review-netflix-true-crime-documentary-7824041/), titled ‘The Diary of a Serial Killer’, is a significant improvement over the first.

The second instalment of the docu-series rights the wrongs of the previous one, with a well-crafted narrative that explores the psyche of a terrifying ...

Ultimately, Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer is a chilling exploration into the darkest of corners of the human mind. Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer is such a gruesome retelling of serial killer Raja Kolander's story. Meanwhile, Raja dismisses the very allegation of cannibalism as a fiction created by authorities and media (the role of media in the case is also argued about). In a surprising move, the makers also manage to get us an audience with Raja himself. Interestingly, Rajat also tells us what exactly makes this serial killer a ‘predator’: killers like Raja build a fantasy around a victim, imagine themselves acting out those fantasies, then lay out a meticulously designed plan, and work it out obsessively until they achieve the very last detail of it. In this second instalment, however, despite its chilling depiction of gore, there is an earnest attempt to explore all facets of a baffling story.

What sets Kolander apart from your average Joe in the serial killing world is the fact that the interrogations revealed that he stewed the brains of his victims ...

If you are a fan of the genre, then Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer is a must-watch. Here, the drama, the shock and the awe of the incident itself are enough to make you uncomfortable. Details of how Raja Kolander decapitated his victims and chopped off their body parts are unsettling and extremely disturbing, but these raw moments are the windows into what can go on in the dark crevices of the human mind. Instead, he takes you inside the minds of not just the families of those who lost their loved ones to these crimes, but actually gives you a face-to-face audience with the killer himself. It gives the viewer an experience of witnessing, and sometimes even going through the emotional trauma of watching the events unfold in front of him. A good documentary offers a lens view of an incident without the shackles of dramatising the event.

नेटफ्लिक्स की डाक्यूमेंट्री 'इंडियन प्रिडेटर: द डायरी ऑफ अ सीरियल किलर' स्ट्रीम हो गई ...

वरना तो कुल मिलाकर 'इंडियन प्रिडेटर: द डायरी ऑफ अ सीरियल किलर' नेटफ्लिक्स पर सबसे बेहतरीन इंडियन डाक्यूमेंट्रीज में गिनने लायक है. प्रथम मेहता की बेहतरीन सिनेमेटोग्राफी लो-लाइट शॉट्स में जान डाल देती है और एक टेंशन बनाए रखती है. जेल के अंदर हुई इस बातचीत के लिए, राजा जब कोठरी के दरवाजे से चलकर अंदर आ रहा है, तो उसकी चाल और बॉडी लैंग्वेज बहुत दिलचस्प है. नेटफ्लिक्स की डाक्यूमेंट्री 'इंडियन प्रिडेटर: द डायरी ऑफ अ सीरियल किलर' में एक ऐसी ही कहानी है. लेकिन उसके अपराध की कहानी के साथ-साथ, एक साइकोलॉजिस्ट और एक एन्थ्रोपोलोजिस्ट, राजा कोलंदर के सामाजिक समीकरण और सोच की परतों को भी उधेड़ते चलते हैं. 'इंडियन प्रिडेटर: द डायरी ऑफ अ सीरियल किलर' सिर्फ राजा कोलंदर के अपराध की कहानी नहीं कहती, बल्कि इस सवाल का जवाब खोजने की भी कोशिश करती है.

In its quest for sensational crimes, the Indian Predator series on Netflix can do no better than Ram Niranjan. The first season, produced by Vice India, ...

Conversations with a social historian and a Kol community activist reveal the sociological factors that might have motivated Niranjan. We request you to support our award-winning journalism by making a financial contribution towards the Scroll Ground Reporting Fund. There are repeated shots of a house that might or might not belong to Ram Niranjan. The trump card is an interview with Niranjan himself, who proclaims his innocence (promptly followed by a clinical psychologist’s assertion that serial killers see themselves as victims rather than perpetrators). The police officer who investigated the case is allowed to declare that Niranjan is a monster in human form. Niranjan was convicted in three murders (he has appealed the convictions).

सीरीज़ रिव्यू: 'इंडियन प्रेडेटर : द डायरी ऑफ अ सीरियल किलर'. इस सीरीज़ की ख़ास बात है, इसकी ...

कुल मिलाकर धीरज जिंदल के निर्देशन में बनी ये एक अच्छी डॉक्यु सीरीज़ है. उसकी मेंटैलिटी और दूसरे पहलुओं को भी संज़ीदगी से पेश करती है. ये बताने के लिए साइकोलॉजिस्ट की मदद लेती है. फिर उसी के पैरलल राजा कोलंदर के परिवार की बात भी सुनती है. इसके लिए मानव विज्ञानी और समाज शास्त्री की मदद लेती है. ये सीरीज़ धीरेंद्र सिंह की हत्या को रेफ्रेंस पॉइंट के तौर पर उठाती है. ऐसे ही राजा कोलंदर की मानसिकता को उसकी आदिवासी पृष्ठभूमि से जोड़कर अलग-अलग पहलुओं को जांचती है. पर इसे किसी एक फ़िक्शन थ्रिलर की तरह ट्रीट किया गया है. ये एक छोटी तीन एपिसोड्स की डॉक्युमेंट्री सीरीज़ है. सीरीज़ को एक पड़ताल के तौर पर इस्तेमाल किया गया है, जो एक पक्षीय नहीं है. माने ये एक डॉक्युड्रामा सीरीज़ है. एक डॉक्युमेंट्री को फिक्शन की तरह ट्रीट किया गया है.

“Kaun hai ye khooni darinda jisne qatl pe qatl kiye?" (Who is this bloody monster that went on a killing spree?) We are all too familiar with crime segments ...

The police build a strong case against Raja Kolander and form the backbone of Indian Predator: The Diary Of A Serial Killer. He also named his kids Andolan (protest), Jamanat (bail) and Adalat (court) — the pillars of socio-political dissent and power. However, Dheerendra and the other victims are reduced to a number in the documentary and in Raja’s diary. They explain how Ram Niranjan changed his name to Raja Kolander which meant “the king of Kols,” a tribal community found in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. He maintained he was simply spiritual and a victim of a political conspiracy by his rivals. It has all the ammunition for a good documentary, including actual face-time with the killer.

The expanding Indian true crime slate at Netflix bears a similar template. Take any of them – House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths or Crime Stories: Indian ...

Much of the gore in Kolander's case is reliant on the belief that he is a cannibal. The onus to arrive at the truth is on the viewers. Although The Diary of a Serial Killer does underline that this could well be an offshoot of him being a member of the Kol community (Kolander denies it and courts have found no evidence to support the claim), it also names an episode 'Cannibal'. Kolander maintains that many of the 14 people mentioned in his diary are still alive. That Kolander himself makes an appearance (his interview from Unnao Jail is included in the last two episodes) makes the documentary all the more urgent. Signs of Kolander living his own truth is further evidenced by the fact that his wife was called Phoolan Devi and his children were named Adalaat (court), Andolan (protest) and Zamaanat (bail). Anthropologists and social activists inform of the varied ways oppression for a man trained to live at the outskirts of social entitlement manifests, the perverse recourse he opted for to fulfill his aspirations, and the extent to which his social standing has engineered his public persona. The storyline is unsettlingly close to Ayesha Sood's Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi. This is juxtaposed with an activist talking about the various ways people from the Kol community fall victim to such falsity due to their perceived identification as aboriginals. The first episode busies itself with the sudden absence of Singh and Raja Kolander's arrest. More often than not, the third act, essentially an Indian addition, devolves into a moral lesson, overlooking the inadequacy of the police force. Take any of them – House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths or Crime Stories: Indian Detectives — and the pattern reveals itself.