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The contemporary OTT landscape has become fertile ground for crime thrillers. In an era shaped by shrinking attention spans and an increasing appetite for adrenaline-driven storytelling, the genre has found perhaps its most ideal home on streaming platforms. The significant rise of crime thrillers in Indian OTT over the last decade reflects precisely this cultural shift. Prosit Roy’s Raakh initially appears to comfortably inhabit this familiar territory. Set in Delhi in 1978, the series begins with the disappearance and brutal murder of two teenagers, unfolding into a relentless police investigation to track down the perpetrators.

Structurally, the series employs a semi-classical screenplay that runs on two parallel timelines – the present investigation and the criminals’ past – gradually revealing the chain of events that distort both individual lives and the larger social order. It moves deliberately as a slow-burn thriller, a pacing choice that works well with its period setting.

The series draws loosely from the infamous 1978 Ranga-Billa case, one of India’s most disturbing criminal episodes which later contributed to landmark developments in Indian legal history. While Raakh fictionalises several details, this creative liberty is used not merely for suspense but to build a wider social canvas where caste, class, gender and structural violence quietly operate beneath the crime narrative. And it is here that Raakh begins distinguishing itself from the growing crowd of Indian crime dramas.

A slow but noticeable departure from the deliberate ‘caste blindness’

Over the last few years, Hindi cinema and OTT storytelling have increasingly begun engaging more directly with caste realities. Bheed, Kathal, Dahaad – and now Raakh – seem to indicate a slow but noticeable departure from the deliberate “caste blindness” that long dominated mainstream storytelling. Raakh enters this space without loudly announcing its politics. Instead, it embeds caste within the everyday mechanics of the story.

One of the central figures through whom this emerges is sub-inspector Jayaprakash Jatav, played by Ali Fazal. Jayaprakash stands in sharp contrast to conventional portrayals of Dalit characters in Indian visual culture. He is sharp, confident, aspirational, preparing for UPSC examinations, intellectually ambitious and deeply committed to his work. Yet significantly, he remains sub-inspector – not yet a full Inspector. The qualifier itself feels symbolic. His competence is repeatedly questioned.

He is constantly forced to prove himself within a system structured to distrust him. What makes this trajectory particularly telling is the series’ conclusion. Jayaprakash is finally promoted and becomes Inspector – but only after solving the brutal murder case and demonstrating extraordinary competence. The narrative inadvertently reveals a familiar social truth: Dalits are rarely granted legitimacy as a given. Their presence within institutions remains perpetually under suspicion,........

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