Sundance 2023: Richie Mehta's 'Poacher', his love for procedurals & humanising law enforcement

It’s not been very long since Richie Mehta became a widely known name in India. Based out of Canada, Mehta’s first four feature-length projects weren’t as widely discussed as the filmmaker might have hoped for. However, all that changed in 2019 with Delhi Crime – a seven-episode series charting out the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. Acquired by Netflix after its premiere at the 2019 Sundance film festival, Delhi Crime became one of the flagship shows for Netflix India and also went on to win an International Emmy. It spawned a second season too with Mehta’s characters, even if the man himself wasn’t involved beyond the role of a producer. The last four years have seen Mehta deeply immersed in Poacher – another cop procedural culminating into India’s largest ivory raid – whose first three episodes premiered at this year’s Sundance film festival. With an eclectic cast including names like Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Nimisha Sajayan Roshan Mathew and KaniKusruthi – the show features Mehta’s trademark observations of mundane procedure yielding the most extraordinary results. There’s a brilliant sequence in Ep 02 for example, where Roshan Mathews spends about ten minutes explaining to Nimisha Sajayan – how he managed to triangulate a suspect’s location with the help of their mobile phone. Switching between Malayalam, Hindi and English, Poacher seems to be a fine addition to the effortless, free-flowing “pan-India” shows that value restraint over melodrama. [caption id=“attachment_12138582” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A still from Poacher[/caption] Like Delhi Crime, even Poacher depicts India’s law enforcement in arguably its finest hour – where the ‘broken’ system apparently works, and culprits are brought to justice. At a time when law enforcement has been facing an image problem around the globe, there are a few uneasy questions plaguing Mehta’s more-than-competent shows. If Mehta is mildly annoyed by the questions around whether he intended to make a puff piece on the law enforcement, he does a good job of hiding it and even goes on to categorically point at the ‘hints’ he left for the audience to indicate what is happening in his shows is the exception, rather than the norm. Edited excerpts: You said somewhere that you approach almost every film (especially the work you’ve done in India) as a Sci-Fi film. What did you mean? What I basically meant was that each project is its own self-contained universe. It is its own world. For example: The world of Poacher would be alien to most urban residents around the world – whether it’s Delhi, Mumbai or someone in London. I mention it in E02, where I say that coming face-to-face with an Elephant can almost feel like you’re in front of an alien species. They’re very difficult to spot, and if you do spot them then it can be very dangerous. But ideally, it shouldn’t be a different world. That’s why I begin with a close-up of the eye of an Elephant – it’s a creature that is familiar to us, but how many of us have seen it up close like this? Are we really familiar? When you watch the last two episodes of the show – it’s almost entirely set in Delhi, and you kinda’ start to see how this far-removed world is linked to our world. How do you approach something like Siddharth (2013) as a Sci-Fi? In that situation – you have basically a character who inhabits his own world. When he realises that his son is missing – there are certain touch points in the story, for instance he goes to the police station, and the officer asks for a photograph of Siddharth. The man says he doesn’t have a single photograph of his own son – it’s a moment when most viewers are thinking that they would have a picture. And that’s exactly when the realisation dawns on them how this guy comes from a completely different world from ours. It’s when you realise that this man’s world – it’s a totally different planet! The world of Siddharth exists below a particular strata – something both you or I might not have lived. We have a glimpse of it, but we seriously don’t have a clue. You seem like someone who enjoys genre films. What were the kind of cop procedurals that you’ve grown up watching, and also maybe till recently? [caption id=“attachment_12138592” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A still from Poacher[/caption] The French Connection (1971) is probably one of the best ones ever. Zodiac (2007) is another I love. But there are also the ones that are more character-driven, but they have the propulsion, like The Insider (1999) - merging journalism and procedural. I find it a fascinating way to structure plot: even Siddharth is a procedural about a man trying to find his son. It’s a very simple way to structure one’s thoughts about the progression of a story. When did work on Poacher begin? What hooked you? Some passive work on it began all the way back in 2015, even before Delhi Crime. But I actively began working only in 2018. It landed on my lap – I did this movie called India In A Day. All over the country, people gave me footage from across the country on Oct 10, 2015. One of the pieces of footage I got was this ivory raid – and it was the largest ivory raid in the history of India. It just so happened to take place on the same day – it was a definite crime scene. I was sure I couldn’t show it. But I called up the NGO and asked them about it, and they gave me the specifics. So, I told them that I won’t be able to use it, but I asked them for a few years and that I would make a complete project on it. It culminates in the biggest wildlife case India has ever witnessed. It’s very, very big. I’ve always had a feeling about projecting wildlife on screen. So, when I reached out to the NGO and asked them about the video they had sent, they suggested that I should meet their wildlife crime fighter. The title itself is so intriguing! I met this person outside a metro station for 10 mins – before they went on an undercover operation. I met him, I told him that I’d like to help him – and he agreed right away! He’s the character of Alan (Roshan Mathew). An independently produced series is a big gamble. But when you’ve had the kind of success with Netflix that you’ve had, what makes you still go independent? I had discussed it with many major platforms, and they were all very friendly about participating in the series. I just felt with this project – I had to do some exploration by myself to arrive at where the project was. In essence, It’s creating a subgenre — where it’s a procedural, but with something that hasn’t been attempted before. So, it comes with some unknown territory. Luckily, I had the option to independently finance the project – so that exploration would become a lot smoother if I had to explain myself a bit less, and arrive at where I needed to for the sake of the show. Like Delhi Crime, we’re premiering at Sundance, and now we’ll see who is interested and how to go about it. What’s a pro and con of independently making limited series? An independent film is usually 90-110 pages of content – less time, much cheaper. In long form, you’re dealing with a 350-400 page script. It’s the equivalent of three-four movies. Much longer shoots, much more elaborate. You can’t sell half of it. It’s a bigger proposition and therefore the risk is higher. But the payoff, if it works, I think if you’ve managed to penetrate the psyche of your viewers – then you’ve given them an experience! It’s very, very memorable. Within it, you can do such elegant messaging. It’s such an eclectic cast of actors – Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew, Dibyendu. What had you seen of theirs that made you cast them? [caption id=“attachment_12138602” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A still from Poacher[/caption] I have to say – I was unfamiliar with their work when they came on board. Dibyendu, I’d seen and we were supposed to work earlier. I was familiar with his work. But Roshan and Nimisha – I’d not seen their work. But it was brought to my notice during the casting process, and that’s when I saw The Great Indian Kitchen (2021) for Nimisha, and I thought Roshan was great in Choked (2020). I’d imagine one of the comforts of writing a genre piece is the familiarity of the setting. As a creator – how do you know when to keep things familiar, and when to change things up? It helps greatly when one is dealing with a subgenre I have no comparison to. For eg: you saw the thread I’m developing of wild animals’ POV and their fear of us. That’s a small example in what I hope is that it’s a bit richer than the standard genre film. But the most important aspect is I think genre is a tool to talk about some very important things. So, I’ll lean into the genre device as much as possible. I’m sure you might have noticed that the first three eps of Poacher are a lot faster than Delhi Crime, and the pace keeps picking up with each successive episode. It dives into the aspects I want to explore as a filmmaker, but my hope is even if you’re ambivalent to the cause of the series, you’re still enjoying it as a thriller. By the end, if you’ve stuck with it only for the thrills, I hope you’re left with something from the show. That’s the subversion. In a world where law enforcement is going through a bit of an image crisis. And sure, both your shows are focused on small groups when the system works – do you also consider it a responsibility to underline the cracks and the fractures in it? I do, yes. For Delhi Crime especially, I can vouch for the conduct of those officers during those seven days. I can’t vouch for anything outside of that. I’m not trying to either. Even in Poacher, I’ve gotten to know these people very well now. I think it’s important that certain details emerge which indicate how difficult their job is. To suggest that this is an exception, and not the norm. In Delhi Crime – there’s a line Bhupender (Rajesh Tailang) says, “We’re lucky that these weren’t rich kids!” Those kinds of details should be indicators for the audiences. The system in that aspect is broken. It has to be a perfect storm of circumstances for these people to do their job. I think the central thrust of Poacher and the desperation of the characters of Mala, Allen and Neil – especially Neil, who knows the system top-down, we talk about it all the time. There could be an internal leak, an internal sabotage – they have to protect the case from themselves. So, I think that’s the suggestion that it happens so very often. Are you concerned that, like Delhi Crime, even Poacher might be critcised for being a puff piece for the cops? I’m not. I stand by the fact that certain cops do their job! It’s something we know. And I’ve gotten to know the real people behind the characters in Delhi Crime – the women especially – they’re some of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met in my life. I vouch for that! Now, I am acutely aware that Delhi Crime might appear to be a counter-narrative, cos there are enough depictions in the media about how the cops are corrupt. I’m just one piece in the mosaic of these on-screen depictions. I’m not out to promote any organisations. Also, with these wildlife crime fighters, I think these are people putting their lives and everything in it at risk to protect the ecosystem – and I think that’s worth talking about. How do you root a project in such cultural specificity, being an NRI male like you mentioned. How do you know it’s working? One never knows if it’s working, until I suppose one has been told many, many times. Projects like Amal, Siddharth came out of the years I spent in Delhi. Most of Delhi Crime’s details came from the hours I spent in police stations, waiting for my interview subjects to show up. By simply observing what’s happening around. In Poacher, it also came from just spending a lot of time in Kerala. Observing forest dwellers, those living on the outskirts of forests, places like Kochi, the NGO culture in Delhi and elsewhere – it was all just observing. This is your second appearance at Sundance – how does a premiere like this aid you as an independent storyteller? I think I’m used to a certain kind of independence by now. Where Sundance comes in is – the sheer number of great films and TV shows coming out in the world right now, the importance of curation has gone up. I implicitly trust Sundance – when they pick it, it’s something different and worth checking out. That differentiation is crucial in this era. There’s definitely going to be comparisons to Delhi Crime – if that does happen, how will you react to it? It has its own challenges. I’ve never really considered myself a police genre person, it’s not what I learned while growing up. With Delhi Crime, I had no idea whether it was going to work. The painstaking work we did on it for over six years, it landed. While I was making Delhi Crime, I remember thinking that I’d love to work on a next project where I’m not questioning the ethics of the project. I don’t think there’s going to be a single person watching Poacher, who will disagree with the mission. While making it, I wasn’t sure I was the right person to make it. I was an NRI male – I wasn’t sure I should be the one making it. But nobody else was, and I felt strongly about it, having worked on it for so long. Out of those doubts emerged, I never want to have those doubts in another project. Wildlife crime fighting is an easier cause to bring everything. Tatsam Mukherjee has been working as a film journalist since 2016. He is based out of Delhi NCR. Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,  India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.