One of the most spectacular murder cases that the country has witnessed recently is the Sheena Bora case. With a focus on “media baroness” Indrani Mukerjea the show notes, has no family history or well-known surname and her rapid ascent through the corporate ranks to become INX media’s CEO, the documentary series produced by India Today Productions attempts to piece together all of the information that has come to light in order to determine Sheena Bora’s killer.
However, the web surrounding her supposed murder only gets tighter; each person implicated seems to add a new layer of complexity, and Indrani Mukerjea even maintains that Bora is still alive, despite the forensic report appearing to indicate otherwise.
Sheena Bora disappeared on April 24, 2012, late at night. She was subsequently found to be Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter, but she was initially thought to be her sister. The only person who is concerned about her whereabouts and keeps phoning everyone to find out is her fiancé, Rahul Mukerjea, who is Indrani’s spouse and the son of former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea from his previous wife.
Sheena left for further education in the US, according to Indrani and Peter, and she did not want to stay in touch with him, but he senses something is off. Three years later, Indrani is detained on suspicion of killing Sheena; her driver and second husband, Sanjay Khanna, are suspected of being complicit. After the case was moved to 2016, a year later, Peter was also taken into custody.
Statements from the police, well-known crime reporters who covered the case, Sheena’s brother Mekhail Bora, Vidhie Mukerjea, the daughter of Indrani and Sanjeev Khanna, and Indrani Mukerjea herself are included in the four-part series. Rahul Mukerjea and the other defendants were asked to speak about the case which hasn’t had a verdict in nine years but they declined.
India Today Productions has produced a number of true crime documentaries, but the execution and methodology of “Indrani Mukerjea: The Buried Truth” distinguishes it from the others. Indrani Mukerjea’s remarks to directors Uraaz Bahl and Shaana Levy are placed in a way that feels inconsistent in the four-part documentary, carefully balancing them with previously discovered evidence and call records. Some of Mukerjea’s remarks, particularly the ones in which she characterizes each individual in her immediate vicinity from her first husband Siddhartha Das to Peter Mukerjea, Mekhail, and even her desire to rename the WhatsApp group from “Justice for Sheena” to “Justice for Indrani” act as pearls that merely enhance the drama of the show.
The series succeeds in part because it doesn’t attempt to solve the case, but skilfully and simply navigating through the evidence that has been made accessible. The viewers are just left to draw their own conclusions. Viewers are taken on a roller-coaster ride where they essentially find themselves in an endless maze as half-truths and blatant lies become obvious.
While Rahul Mukerjea, who is reported to be sincere in his pursuit of justice for Sheena, only appears in the recorded calls that he turned in to the police, Vidhie Mukerjea seems to be one of the only persons who is willing to disclose everything she knows and someone who truly misses her sister.
