BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker, Sarah Macdonald — the brain behind gripping films on child abuse, North Korea and Burma — brings us The Talwars: Behind Closed Doors , a riveting four-part series on the 2008 Noida double murders that shook the country. While the couple, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, were acquitted last month, the case remains unsolved. In the documentary, Macdonald — who is currently working on five, one-hour undercover investigations for an Asian channel — closely follows the case.
The London-based investigative journalist is also doing a feature documentary about North Korea and its weapons-programme (which is in pre-production) and a musical feature documentary, The Great Green Wall, which works with the United Nations to explore the issues around climate change and a search for a viable solution across the Sehel Region in Africa.
How did the idea to make this documentary take shape?
I was aware HBO Asia was looking for a crime series, so I began looking for stories (by 2015 end) across the region that had many twists, which was surprisingly difficult to find. I hadn’t heard of the Talwar case until I came across a story on the Internet. After probing a bit more and contacting Avirook Sen, author of the book, Aarushi , I realised that this tragic story was both gripping, ongoing and carried themes that would resonate with viewers across the globe.
How long did the making take?
I began my search when the appeal was just beginning. We researched and structured the series in early 2016, being fortunate enough to speak with Nupur Talwar when she was on bail during the process. We believed the series would be completed by January 2017, but the appeal decision was not for another 10 months.
New Delhi: In this file photo friends and relatives of Aarushi Talwar light candles near her portrait to seek justice for her, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in Jan, 2016. The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted her parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in her murder case. PTI Photo by Subhav Shukla (PTI10_12_2017_000162B)
Having worked on several investigative reports, how was this case different?
I’ve specialised in child abuse cases: both in the UK and in relation to the Catholic Church and abuse of minors by priests. I made three films for the BBC that led to the resignation of a Catholic bishop and a government inquiry.
In the Talwar case, we had the death of a young girl, someone whose life was ended under extremely tragic and seemingly unusual circumstances. We asked the question, ‘what could have led to this murder? Let us go back and unpick as much around Aarushi, Hemraj and the Talwars as we could.’ It has been a slow, painful investigation, always trying to ensure we kept humanity at the heart of the story. In that sense, it is similar to my other films, but also so very different in that we were working in a culture that is alien to us.
In terms of presentation, how have you divided the course of events across the four parts?
This is the biggest series of my career to date. It’s the most creatively produced one, too: by director PA Carter and editor Mikka Leskinen. We were placed in a difficult scenario — that this series was playing to one audience that knew the story well (Star India), and another audience that didn’t know it at all (HBO Asia). We’ve had to strike a balance between retelling a well-told story in a different way that grips both sets of viewers. We have saved our major revelations for episode four.
What were the biggest loopholes you discovered in the case?
This story is quite fantastic. A police investigation, two CBI probes, a court case that resulted in a conviction and an appeal that led to the Talwars’ release. We have charted all the twists and turns, and probed into some of the evidence that is already out there, and uncovered new evidence. This is a chilling murder with multiple cover-ups and conspiracies. Everyone believes they know ‘who did it’, but here we are nine years later and still no one is held responsible for the murder of a child and their Nepalese household servant. That, too, is a tragedy.
In your opinion, who is behind the double murder?
Like everyone in India, I have my opinion and as a team we all reached a collective conclusion, but our role as programme-makers is to lead the viewers on a journey that brings each and everyone to their own conclusion. I believe we lay out a scenario that should lead to introspection, if not operationally, then certainly within ourselves as a society. Two lives have been tragically cut short, why? And how many lives have been damaged, if not destroyed in the ensuing years as authorities and the media hunt for the murderer?
The Talwars: Behind Closed Doorswill première on Hotstar and Star World, November 26 at 10 pm
