Indian Predator is an important story, says director Ayesha Sood

After the true crime docu-series House Of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021) and Crime Stories: India Detectives (2021), Netflix is set to look at a ruthless serial killer with the upcoming series Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi (2022).

House Of Secrets: The Burari Deaths review – Unsettling account of the mysterious end of 11 members of a Delhi family

The upcoming docu-series will trace the story of a notorious serial killer who ruthlessly dismembered his victims and scattered their body parts around the city. The series attempts to painstakingly explain the sequence of events that led up to his arrest based on investigations and coverage of serial killings in the Indian capital.

Produced by VICE India, the series has been directed by renowned filmmaker Ayesha Sood.

She said, “When the Vice India team approached me with the idea of developing Indian Predator, I was truly intrigued because even though I consider myself to be a true-crime nut, and have been a Delhi resident all my life, I had never heard of this story. On researching this case I realized that this is indeed an important story to tell. Our intent with this series was to give the viewers a ringside view to the journey of one of the scariest serial killers in Indian crime.”

Sood faced many challenges while creating the series. “As is the case with any true-crime documentary, Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi also had many layers and threads that kept unravelling through the interviews and conversations,” she explained. “It was tough to get everyone to come on the record because of the tragic nature of the crimes and most people are wary of documentation or keeping a photographic record of their lives. So, we had to be doubly mindful with our research and ensure that all aspects of the case were being accurately corroborated.”

She continued, “Not to mention, there were physical difficulties also at play – whoever has shot after or during the pandemic knows how the health and security teams have to go all out to make sure the crew and our characters felt safe. We had stringent COVID protocols in place – safe and controlled zones, disinfection stations and colour codes to mark crew as per their working zones and technical equipment.

“Then as we neared the end of 2020, we were hit by one of the most severe winters the North has witnessed in recent times. While shooting in Bihar and Delhi with call times at 3 or 4 am – hot chai was never appreciated more by our incredible tireless crew. So, yes we were really up against a lot of odds while creating the series but I believe we have created something that is truly worth it all,” she added.

Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi is due to be premiered on Netflix on 20 July.