‘Beast of Bangalore’ is the latest instalment of the ‘Indian Predator’ series. It narrates the story of a man who threatened women’s safety in and around the Bangalore region between 1996 and 2002. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
A man named Umesh Reddy sexually assaulted several women between 1998 and 2002 in Bangalore and Karnataka state in general. He would also rob them and had a fetish for women’s undergarments.
He was apprehended several times and managed to escape from the police on multiple occasions as well, avoiding them for long periods at a time.
Umesh was eventually arrested in 2002 and given the death penalty in one of his cases but thanks to the ineptitude of the police in the handling of many of his cases, Umesh was acquitted of many other attacks and his victims never got the justice they deserved.
Positives
The docu-series focuses on accounts of the various authority figures that handled his case back in the day and some journalists and people connected to Umesh, providing a well-rounded understanding of the events.
The dramatic recreations are subtle and do not overdo it at any point. They exist to lend a better perception of Umesh’s crimes and they manage to do that perfectly.
Presenting different perspectives from the various women activists highlights the deficiencies in the mindset of the men who handled the cases back then and gives the audience an added issue to comprehend apart from Umesh’s actions.
Negatives
While the attacks on the women were certainly gruesome, what is more jarring to witness are the opinions of some of the retired officers involved in the hunt for Umesh. Some of their comments are downright offensive towards women and leave a bad taste in the mouth of the viewer.
There’s a heavy reliance on readily available information and despite the various accounts from inspectors and activists, there’s nothing truly groundbreaking revealed in the series.
Verdict
Indian Predator: Beast of Bangalore is a pretty average docu-series giving the viewers a detailed look into this crazed person who terrorized the minds of women in and around Bangalore across of a period of 6 years through his actions.
It’s an eye-opening showcase of the inadequacies of the police department at the time and the patriarchal bias shown by the authorities and the courts which only diminish the morale of the victims further.
Indian Predator: Beast of Bangalore
Director: Ashwin Rai Shetty
Date Created: 2022-12-16 13:30
2.5
Also Read: Indian Predator: Beast of Bangalore explained: What happened to Umesh Reddy?