Rarely have Indian documentaries stood the test of time and made people sit up and take notice. However, the tide changed when Netflix released its first Indian docu-series House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths (2021), followed up by Crime Stories: India Detectives. The streaming giant is now gearing up for the launch of another true-crime series on a serial killer titled Indian Predator: The Butcher of Delhi, helmed by Ayesha Sood.

While the characters play a pivotal role in the storytelling, for the director, a narrator is essential to bind the story. “Characters who narrate the story in a docu-series play a significant role. They should have a personal connection to threads of the story,” says Sood, who believes that every story has multiple versions to it. “Ideally, you should have the people whose story it is, tell their tale. It’s important to find characters that can bring the different sides to life. Some characters are required to build context, it may be a social milieu that needs unpacking. These characters would weigh in as experts,” explains the director.