15/16 May, 2008. The night that gripped the nation with a strangely grim and unbelievable horror is etched in our memories like a chill, a gust from the unknown sea. Aarushi Talwar, a young starry eyed girl’s life was tragically cut short in the dead of the night- an irreparable loss that just sucked the entire life out of a small tightly-knit family.  

The conspiracy being? We don’t know yet.  The aftermath? We all witnessed or rather lived the tale that followed.  Till date a chill slips down the spine to imagine the family –the Talwars - falling victim into the hands of a crippling affliction and an inconsolable loss.  A multitude of conclusions were confirmed but so far there’s no solid evidence or a veracious answer; just a bazillion of theories floating in the dark totality.

Can a tale be told again and again and  again and yet live on to bring the grisly dread and the breathing horror intact, so much so,  that it still seems just an yesterday? All this time we had had a vague idea or rather the entire story etched in our memories in drabs and drabs. The Talwars on Hot Star is a detailed documentary on the double murder and keeps the sentiment burning and brings to light the cold-blooded attack that had transpired behind the confined walls of the Talwars’ household.

The four-part docu-series unfolds the mystery one at a time with arrant detail and a delicate approach; so far three episodes have been aired.

The episodes are titled as per the chronicles of the inquest. The documentary brings to frame the various people involved – the cops, Aarushi’s closest friend Fiza, the maid, her uncle, family friends, media personnel, etc., the real media footages that covered the case and the Talwars’ various interviews with the news channels. The four part series encompasses the police investigation, two CBI probes and the court case. All of which culminated into a pronouncement of guilt against the dentist couple and then them being released post the appeal.

The docu-series charts meticulously the probes, how a serious twist veers the entire story off course and leaves almost everyone flummoxed. Their prime suspect ‘Hemraj’ is found murdered too. With all hopes hanging loosely on tenterhooks the only way to solve this case rested in close follow-up investigations.

The last of the series is yet to be aired and major revelations are to be disclosed. The story slowly pushes in the sense that we do know who is responsible (we all have reached multiple conclusions so far) but after almost a decade there is no whereabouts of a kosher closure. The cloak and dagger operation had left the entire nation grieving. The kind of grief that leaves you apoplectic and bitter; demanding an answer from every possible hopeful source. But, after almost a decade we are still left asking, “Where is justice?”

The show brushes in the idea- an introspection- that justice is through society’s own actions; lest they are thoughtful. How many more muffled screams shall be put to silence and how many more lives shall be torn apart? Is it just a double-murder case with no answers or the death of an entire family and the knot of kith and kin closely related to Aarushi?  

The Talwars: Behind Closed Doors is a Star World original and is streaming live on Hot Star.

Watch: The Talwars: Behind Closed Doors on Hot Star.