NL Interview: Hansal Mehta, Karishma Tanna on Scoop, Indian newsrooms and the real vs reel

Scoop, an upcoming Netflix series inspired by journalist Jigna Vora’s book Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison, will start streaming on June 2. In this conversation with Rajyasree Sen, filmmaker Hansal Mehta and actor Karishma Tanna talk about the new crime drama, and the role of the police, judiciary and the media. 

Hansal speaks about his fascination with Vora’s story and how he closely followed the journalist J Dey murder case, in which crime reporter Jigna was jailed for nine months before being acquitted of all charges seven years later. “Jigna’s book is a prison memoir…but I felt that there was a potential to go beyond the book. To explore who this person (Jigna) was.”  

Karishma, who plays Jagruti Pathak, a character based on the crime reporter’s life, describes her role as “a dream come true”. “I researched about Jigna’s story…my co-actors have been amazing. The ambience on the set was so real…the scenes in the newsroom were tougher than the ones in the prison.”  

They discuss the portrayal of the police in the show, and the role of the judiciary and the media in a democracy. “A compromised press is so detrimental to the growth of democracy. Fortunately, with independent media there are checks and balances. But I wish the press did what it was supposed to do, speak to the people in power truthfully,” says Hansal. 

They also talk about the growth of OTT platforms and the paradigm shift in content creation and filmmaking.  

Watch.