In one of the scenes in Delhi Crime, DCP Vartika Chaturvedi’s junior officer proposes to take the fall for an incident at the police station, she responds, “If you take the fall, what does that say about me and our team’s competence? Just keep everyone in this building safe, or else I will shoot you myself one day. But I will stand in between you and anyone who tries to shoot you.”

While critics praised Delhi Crime for the portrayal of its women police officers, the show’s team told us in their interviews that this realistic portrayal was made possible by the actors, who spent long hours at police stations, and writer-director Richie Mehta’s years of interviewing, and observing the investigation team.

Delhi Crime received a lot of appreciation for its portrayal of Vartika Chaturvedi (played by Shefali Shah), a character based on IPS officer Chhaya Sharma, which was unlike any other portrayal of female police officers on screen. Chhaya Sharma, who was then (during Nirbhaya investigation) DCP South, Delhi Police, and is currently posted as Joint CP EOW, Delhi Police, suggested Richie observe police stations to understand how the police department works, and he took her advice.

Observing female police officers helped Richie create strong female leads. He described listening to their stories as his emotional entry point, and said, “Their experiences made me realize that not many stories from their point of view have been told. I chose to show the character of Neeti Singh (played by Rasika Dugal) for a specific reason. It was based on a real person who was by Nirbhaya’s bedside in the hospital and was then called to India Gate at the frontline during consequent protests.”

In an interview, Richie had discussed how he created the show’s strong, layered female characters, particularly the DCP. The series portrays her as an officer who never minces her words and never cuts anyone slack based on gender. The show received a thumbs-up for several reasons, including the portrayal of its protagonist as a police officer and not just a woman police officer.

Rasika Dugal, whose character Neeti Singh is an IPS probationer, says, “In Season 1, I shadowed an IPS officer who was a probationer, because Neeti was at the same position.”

About her role as a female officer in command, Shefali Shah told us earlier, “A lot of research went into creating the character of Vartika Chaturvedi. For me, it was not about replicating her (Chhaya Sharma) as a person. When it came to Vartika, it was about creating a character with the same values and the same work ethic. You grab the emotion and then you create this person.”

Delhi Crime, based on the investigations that went into the brutal gang rape of Nirbhaya on December 16, 2012, leading to her subsequent death, won the best drama series at the 48th International Emmy Awards, last month.

Ever since the series has been released, Chhaya Sharma – former DCP South Delhi, who led the special investigation team that cracked the case and on whom the character of Shefali Shah’s Vartika Chaturvedi is based —has been getting calls from curious people from across the world, who have many questions for the police officer. One caller even wanted to know “if she’s for real”, while another wanted to hear just how she sounds. Yesterday — the eighth anniversary of the Nirbhaya incident — Sharma, currently posted as Director, Central Vigilance Commission in Delhi, spoke to us about the show, Delhi Crime and more.

Chhaya Sharma was not very keen on meeting (the writer-director Richie Mehta) for the show, but it was her former boss, former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, who convinced her.

She says, “I was initially not very keen. When I spoke to Richie for the first time, he was quite excited about the project and was ready to come to Mizoram (where she was posted then). But I told him that we’ll meet in Delhi when I’m there. Incidentally, the next time when I went to Delhi, he was there and when I met him, I found that he meant business, and he was quite serious about the project.”

Sharma says that she wasn’t initially convinced “that many would believe that it’s a positive police story of how the police detected and investigated a sensational case. However, Richie was open and was willing to tell the story from a different perspective.”

She adds, “Most of the people working on films or documentaries about the police system aren’t aware how police departments actually work and that’s why I used to tell Richie that he should go to police stations, just sit and observe how things work. I think he went to all the spots and police stations. In fact, he even went to meet doctors and visited the hospital.”

Sharma had seen the unedited versions of Delhi Crime. She says, “Stories on police officials should be shown as how they are in real life, which is almost never the case in films. We are not ‘Simmba’ or ‘Singham’. We are not larger than life. We are not super humans. We are normal human beings, we don’t have antennas. Whatever detective skills we have, we acquire it (while working). And with due credit to Richie, he has shown the investigation right. I was also very happy that he chose Shefali for the role because she is an actor whose work I have followed,” adding, “Richie told me, ‘I chose Shefali because your eyes are similar’ (laughs).”

Not just Richie and Shefali, who sought her inputs, the costume team members of the show also used to send her photos of the police uniforms to check if they got them right. She says, “I told them that it’s the police uniform, be careful. It is very irritating to see a sub-inspector in a DIG’s uniform and a DIG in a sub-inspector’s uniform.”

Richie had interviewed every member of the Special Investigation Team, from the former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, who was also a consultant for Delhi Crime, to the sub-inspectors and constables. Sharma says, “He took my version, my ACP’s version, my inspector and sub-inspectors’ versions, and then he came with the first draft. He asked me if I wanted to have a look at it, but I was busy with my work. So I broadly told him that you have got all the versions, now tell the story as it is. I told him that this is a positive story and it should be told as such.”

Shar ma adds, “I was answerable to the victim’s family and the court. I’m not interested whether the story is told or not, but I didn’t want it to be something that it is not. Whatever is presented in a series or a movie creates a perception in the minds of the public. And it is very difficult to tell them, ‘see, it is not like that’.”

Sharma is happy with the way the show has been made. She says, “I was happy to note the way in which our efforts and hard work were highlighted in the series. A lot of respect was shown in the scenes related to the victim. The challenges and travails of some of our smaller teams in the fields were well captured. Some character amalgamations were done for cinematic purposes, but the efforts put in the telling the story – in its nearly original form, yet keeping all sensitivity on track – was amazing. It was a job done well.”

Talking about the characters, Sharma says, “Denzil Smith (who played Shefali’s husband in the show) never met my husband, but he played his role superbly because Richie had done his research well. Adil Hussain was superb in displaying the suave and competent Delhi CP Neeraj Kumar. Rajesh Tailang and Jaya Bhattacharya did equal justice to their characters. Most actors who spoke to me had based their work on Richie’s research and that’s why we can see an equation between characters in the series.” Richie did a careful study of the case and characters for over five years, Sharma adds.