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Dancing On The Grave Review: Binge-worthy docu-series on Prime Video explores grey areas of Shakereh Khaleeli murder

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Shaurya Thapa
Shaurya ThapaApr 21, 2023 | 17:09

Dancing On The Grave Review: Binge-worthy docu-series on Prime Video explores grey areas of Shakereh Khaleeli murder

Conceptualised by India Today Originals (Netflix's Indian Predator: Diary of a Serial Killer), Dancing on the Grave is Prime Video's first local true crime documentary series (photo-DailyO)

Post-Netflix’s Burari, the American streaming giant has amped up its Indian true crime output, notably with the anthology Indian Predator. While true crime documentaries can be tediously formulaic, every OTT platform is trying to be as unique as they can. 

For instance, the second season of Indian Predator (titled The Diary of a Serial Killer) featured an exclusive in-prison interview with the serial killer Raja Kolander himself. The Diary of a Serial Killer’s India Today Originals have now conceived another true crime docu-series for Prime Video called Dancing On The Grave. And this documentary too features a similar interview with the central crime’s perpetrator, Murali Manohar Mishra AKA Swami Shraddhananda. 

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And still, as director Patrick Graham admitted in an interview with DailyO, Dancing On The Grave tries to not fetishise the criminal and also takes an empathetic look at the victim and her family. This sensitivity in true crime is definitely needed in an era after the polarising Netflix hit Dahmer. 

Revolving around the 1991 murder of Bangalore (long before Bangalore was Bengaluru) socialite Shakereh Khaleeli, Dancing On The Grave faithfully recreates Khaleeli’s early life and her eyebrow-raising second marriage with 'godman' Swami Shraddhananda. A Hindu man clearly of a lower social status, Shraddhananda is suspicious from the start. With him later confessing to Khaleeli’s shocking murder (she was buried alive only to be discovered three years later); the suspicions only seem justified. 

With many other sources describing him as a manipulative liar, the early portions of Dancing On The Grave establish the Swami’s antagonism in a straightforward manner. But instead of capitalising on the shock value of the ghastly murder, the four-episode series goes on to explore some interesting grey areas. 

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Much like how we saw Raja Kolander smilingly facing the camera, the imprisoned Shraddhananda comes off as a warm-hearted elderly chap. After all, the 80-plus man has been pushing for a mercy petition, only for the courts to turn a blind eye towards him. But then with the mandatory archival digging that comes with every true crime documentary, you might want to believe that Dancing On The Grave itself passes the verdict of Shraddhananda being guilty. However, there's more there.

Shakereh Khaleeli (photo-India Today)
Shakereh Khaleeli (photo-India Today)

Matters get complicated as the white kurta-clad old man reveals that all the allegations against him are baseless. His lawyer Alok Vagrecha also joins the bandwagon, confident in his stance that Shraddhananda is innocent and part of a larger police conspiracy. It is easy to dismiss the killer and his lawyer’s statements as baseless but they’re definitely worth listening to.

(photo-Prime Video)
(photo-Prime Video)

And in a truly unbiased fashion, the series leaves it up to the viewers to decide what actually happened. But with Khaleeli and her family adequately featured throughout a narrative that’s more than a victim sob story, Graham seems to achieve his wish of paying tributes to Khaleeli. 

With that being said, the four episodes still boast cinematic suspense which makes Prime’s first local true crime series all the more binge-able. This perhaps stems from Graham’s past experience with Netflix as the UK-born director has previously helmed episodes of the horror series Ghoul and Betaal

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Dancing On The Grave obviously has its fair share of quintessential true crime tropes like shaky editing, drone shots, dramatic zoom-ins on archival footage, climatic cliffhangers and so on. But with its focus on both sides of the crime and its reluctance to play judge-jury-executioner, Dancing On The Grave stands out as more emotionally nuanced than the average true crime doc. 

Lastly, from an OTT consumer’s perspective, Graham’s four-episode-long series also stands out with its runtime. With each of the episodes trimmed down to an average runtime of 35 minutes (unlike the standard 40-minute or hour-long format for such a docu-series), Dancing On The Grave is quite enticing for a binge-watch.

Regardless of whether you believe his lies (or truths), Swami Shradhananda continues to serve his life sentence in Sagar Central Jail, Madhya Pradesh. If his numerous appeals for a release do attain positive results, then Graham and his crew might have to work on some post-credits scenes!

Dancing On The Grave dropped on Amazon Prime Video today, April 21.

Last updated: April 21, 2023 | 17:09
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