Black Warrant is 2025 Indian Hindi-language crime drama thriller television series based on the 2019 non-fiction book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury, about Gupta's time as a jailer at Tihar Prisons. Created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Satyanshu Singh, it stars Zahan Kapoor as Gupta, alongside Rahul Bhat, Paramvir Singh Cheema, and Anurag Thakur.

The series, consisting of seven episodes, was released on Netflix on 10 January 2025.

Premise Beginning in the early 1980s, Black Warrant is based on historical events told from the perspective of Sunil Gupta, who was a jailer for 35 years at Tihar Prisons. The first season covers Gupta's experiences until 1984, and features real-life criminals, including Charles Sobhraj and Ranga-Billa.

Cast and characters Main Zahan Kapoor as Sunil Kumar Gupta Rahul Bhat as DSP Rajesh Tomar Paramvir Singh Cheema as Shivraj Singh Mangat Anurag Thakur as Vipin Dahiya

Recurring Sidhant Gupta as Charles Sobhraj Joy Sengupta as SP JP Singh Tota Roy Choudhury as SP Mukhopadhyay Rajendra Gupta as Saini Saab Sahib Singh as Zail Singh Mir Sarwar as Maqbool Bhat Rajshri Deshpande as Pratibha Sen Saamya Jainn as Priya Megha Burman as Seema Kamal Batra as Garvit Duggal Shivani Dubey as Kavita Soni Neelu Dogra as Sunil's mother Priya Chauhan as Shalini Tomar Puran Gabbi as Ranga Ramnish Chaudhary as Billa Maithili Jha as Geeta Chopra Aryan Raj as Sanjay Chopra Saroj Mishra as Kartar Singh Mukesh Pachode as Ujagar Singh

Episodes

Production In June 2020, it was announced that Vikramaditya Motwane will be adapting the 2019 non-fiction book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury into a streaming series. Motwane's production company Andolan Films and journalist Josy Joseph's company Confluence Media acquired the rights for the adaptation. Subsequently, Applause Entertainment acquired the rights and entered production for two and a half-years, before selling the finished product to Netflix.

Motwane said that Zahan Kapoor was cast in the lead role of Sunil Gupta after a blind audition process while Rahul Bhat was cast after he saw his performance in Kennedy (2023). Apart from Gupta's character, the other jailers shown in the series were fictional or composites of characters from the book.

Release The series began streaming on Netflix on 10 January 2025.

Reception Critical response Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote that the "series goes the full yard in attempting to unpack the intricate power structure and showcasing caste-and-religious hierarchies in rough-tough Tihar Jail". Scroll.in's Nandini Ramnath considered it a "grim show" about the "brutalities of prison life". She appreciated the work of cinematographer Saumyananda Sahi and production designer Mukund Gupta, as well as the performance of Rahul Bhat. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV opined, "As a piercing look at Tihar, an absorbing story of a baptism by fire and an insightful snapshot of an era in the life of a nation, Black Warrant warrants bingeing on". He was particularly impressed by the portrayal of "a male protagonist who upends notions of belligerence that popular films perpetuate".

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter India, Rahul Desai termed it "skilfully written, performed and crafted" and took note of its ability to subverse "easy tropes and resolutions". The Hindu Shilajit Mitra wrote, "Black Warrant is a grim, discomfiting series, and the flashes of levity and camaraderie only serve to reinforce the tone." He was also appreciative of the performances of Bhat, Zahan Kapoor, and Rajendra Gupta. Shajin Shrijith of The Wire considered its quality to be in the same league as the shows Paatal Lok and Kohrra.

Audience viewership According to data released by Netflix, Black Warrant was streamed by 2.3 million viewers in its first three days.

Awards and nominations +Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee Result Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards 2025 Best Creative Black Warrant Best Newcomer Actor Zahan Kapoor

References

External links

Black Warrant on Netflix