Prison drama Black Warrant was released on Netflix on January 10, 2025, and ever since it has been buzzing among fans. Courtesy of its outstanding real-life story, Black Warrant has been the most-watched series of the week on Netflix in India. Created by Vikramaditya Motwane, and Satyanshu Singh, Black Warrant is a real story based on the book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer, written by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury. Sunil Kumar Gupta served at Delhi's Tihar Jail as a jailor and law officer for 21 years. Notably, episode 2 of Black Warrant showcases infamous convicts Ranga and Billa.
Before hanging them, a journalist named Pratibha Sen portrayed by actress Rajshri Deshpande visited Tihar Jail twice to interview both Ranga and Billa days before their hangings. Pratibha Sen got the permission to interview Rang and Billa from the Supreme Court of India. The series has showcased that rookie jailor Sunil Kumar Gupta was tasked to waste Pratibha Sen's time so that she could not get the interview. Journalist Pratibha Sen wanted to know about Ranga and Billa's last moment and even queried if they were tortured inside the Tihar Jail.
Since Black Warrant is a true story, the question arises whether the character of journalist Pratibha Sen is real or not.
Who is real-life Pratibha Sen?
Pratibha Sen's character is based on a real-life journalist Prabha Dutt. Prabha Dutt is the mother of India's prominent journalist Barkha Dutt. Prabha Dutt passed away in 1984 due to a brain hemorrhage. She was just 40 when she passed away.
Notably, when Prabha Dutt visited Tihar Jail to interview death row inmates Ranga and Billa, she was working as the Chief Reporter of Hindustan Times.
Recently, Barkha Dutt took to her X handle and slammed Netflix over the portrayal of her mother Prabha Dutt. Barkha Dutt wrote, "Disappointing, bewildering & frankly so very unfair that the well documented role of my trailblazing mother, Prabha Dutt, who petitioned Supreme Court to interview child killers Billa Ranga before their hanging, is erased / presented as a fictional character in Black Warrant.
Decades ago when there were hardly any women in journalism, this was path breaking, even risky . It is IMHO a disservice to all women who battle to break such barriers to not so much as acknowledge the real person and their act of chutzpah and courage, not even as a footnote, when other key characters in the story go by their actual names .
Sharing just a few of zillion articles on how Prabha Dutt made history, a history that really should have been credited @NetflixIndia- proud of my mothers many acts of fierce professional passion and bravery and her role ( and that of other amazing women of her generation) in opening doors for women like us who came later."
Ranga-Billa Case
For the unversed, in 1978, Ranga and Billa had kidnapped two siblings, who had hitched a ride with them in the heart of Delhi, for ransom. However, when the criminals came to know that the brother-sister duo G**ta and S**jay Chopra were the children of a naval officer, they panicked and killed them after torturing them. The woman victim was raped before she was killed. Kuljeet Singh alias Ranga Khus and Jasbir Singh alias Billa were awarded the death penalty and executed four years later. Notably, the series showcased that Ranga accused Billa of raping and murdering the sibling, while Billa accused Ranga. In the end, both were hanged to death inside Tihar Jail.