BOMBAY TIMES (September 20, 2019)

The Delhi Police have arrested three people who allegedly duped actress Isha Sharvani by pretending to be Australian Tax officers, officials said on Thursday. The actress who now lives in Perth, Australia, was induced to transfer 5700 AUD (around Rs 3 lakh), police said, adding that the arrests were made by its Cyber Crime Unit (CyPAD).

Isha, who made her debut with Kisna: The Warrior Poet (2005), was last seen in the 2017-film Qarib Qarib Singlle.

Batla House director Nikkhil Advani on maintaining a balanced view of the controversial 2008 encounter
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 8, 2019)

Well before he greenlit Batla House, filmmaker Nikkhil Advani knew that the challenge would lie in depicting the controversial 2008 police encounter without bias. The director reveals that the team dedicated four years to research before taking the John Abraham-starrer on floors.

Besides studying the different conspiracy theories that emerged around the encounter that was planned by Delhi Police Special Cell DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Advani and writer Ritesh Shah also pored over the proceedings of the judicial enquiry that was set up to probe allegations of a fake encounter.

Advani says, "Ritesh had done a lot of the research. When my team jumped in, we started to create the timeline and get the various perspectives to be ironed out. We read the detailed accounts from both the Delhi Police and the boys' [suspected terrorists] sides and carefully considered what we were going to add to the narrative." The director asserts that it was imperative to showcase both sides of the encounter. "There is a huge responsibility to balance the drama and at the same time, tell the facts as they unfolded."

While gathering information on police encounters can be difficult, Advani says they were fortunate to find abundant material on the incident. "We have stuck to facts that were available in public domain."

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 24, 2018)

Apart from her next big screen venture, Nandita Das' Manto, Rasika Dugal is also awaiting the release of her upcoming web offering, tentatively titled Delhi Police, which will see her slip into the role of an IPS officer for the first time.

Talking about the eight-part crime drama series, based on high profile criminal cases, Dugal says, "I play an IPS officer who has only recently completed a year-long training in Delhi. So, I met several IPS officers as part of preparation. I spent time with them to understand the processes underway in police stations, how they train for a parade or simply hang out. It is easy to relate to people once they start talking. Stories about their training and desire to do something for people and the country made for many long conversations." The actor also took time to understand the different official ranks in the system, and those that are specific to the Delhi Police. "There were so many details about the uniform itself, and about the different ways in which they salute each other."

Shot from January to April earlier this year, the show was helmed by Canadian director Richie Mehta, and has been produced by Golden Karavan and Ivanhoe Pictures. Rasika Dugal admits she's known Mehta for a while after having met him at a film festival in 2013. "We bumped into each other later when he was on a recce for this project. I was shooting for another venture at the same location. He tells me that it occurred to him then that I would fit the part." The show, also featuring Shefali Shah, Adil Hussain and Rajesh Tailang is based on investigations of the cases in concern.

MID-DAY (April 3, 2018)

The Delhi Traffic Police has roped in Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan to spread awareness about road safety through a series of videos. The actors, who were in the capital for the shoot of their upcoming film, Sui Dhaaga, shot at Chandni Chowk and Shankar Market amid tight security.

A senior traffic police officer reportedly said, “We wanted to do an event with them to promote safe driving but they were on a tight schedule. We have recorded their video messages. They will be uploaded on our Twitter handle.”

In a video message that was shared yesterday on the Traffic Police’s handle, Sharma is seen while driving. “Delhi Police does a lot for our safety. Your life is important for you, and your loved ones. You should drive safely and, while riding a motorcycle, you should always wear a helmet,” the actor said in the message. Dhawan’s video message is likely to be uploaded today.

Interestingly, the actor’s association with the project comes after he was previously chided by the Mumbai traffic police on Twitter after mid-day published a photo of the actor taking a selfie with a fan in the middle of a busy street.

DNA (December 24, 2014)

Esha Gupta has posted a tweet talking about how the system is worsening in Delhi. “This is what #delhipolice is all about. Banged our car by their jeep yest while they were taking a wrong turn. And no help from their side now,” she wrote adding that it’s very sad. “My parents are eventually gonna give up ‘cause it’s not an easy process. Our system needs to be improved it’s going into dumps.” Hope the authorities concerned are listening.