True crime documentaries are bone-chilling, and their very point is to make the watcher squirm in their seat while they watch the gruesome story unfold on the screen. After watching the Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahmer docu-series on OTT, I have rather gotten hooked on true crime stories, all thanks to my sister. Recently, I watched the newly released true crime docu-series titled Dancing On The Grave, which took a deep dive into the shocking murder of Shakereh Khaleeli, a real estate developer with a royal connection to the Diwan of Mysore. Dancing On The Grave is an India Today Originals production, and it is based on the cold-blooded murder of Shakereh that shocked the nation beyond belief.
The Plot Of Dancing On The Grave
The story chronicles the life of Shakereh Khaleeli, a wealthy socialite belonging to a royal family, and how she went from attending posh parties to getting allegedly buried alive by her second husband. It is an unscripted story divided into four episodes that see the close relatives of Shakereh detailing all that they remember about her, and her life. There are interviews of senior journalists who covered this news when it broke out in the 1980s. Shockingly enough, there is also an interview with the man who is accused of Shekereh’s murder, Swami Shraddananda who narrates his version of the story.
Shakereh Khaleeli was a free-spirited, modern, and socialite personality of the 60s. Her first marriage was with Akbar Mirza Khaleeli, the Indian ambassador to Iran. She led a fancy lifestyle, Shekereh. She came from a privileged background, and used to drive fancy cars around. She was modern and outgoing, and loved by all whom she met. Shekereh and Akbar had four daughters, but she deeply desired a son.
Things turned sour between Shakereh and Akbar who always used to be on tour due to work, and she was left alone at home. Enters Swami Shraddhanand, AKA Murali Manohar Mishra, a self-proclaimed Godman. Swami came into Shakereh’s life when she was lonely, and longed for company. He would help her solve her property matters, and began staying at their place every time he was in Bangalore.
Six months after Shakereh and Akbar get divorced, she marries Shraddhanand, much to the disappointment and shock of her family. Of course, there was a religion angle but there was a class angle as well. For it was beyond her family and society’s understanding how a woman born with a silver spoon could fall for and marry a man so beneath her. But being the headstrong woman that Shakereh was, she married Shraddhanand against her family’s wishes. Her mother had warned her that Swami was only after wealth, and did not actually love her but Shakereh paid no heed.
But scuffles and disputes started in this marriage as well. From fights over money to not being able to have a son, Shakereh and Shraddhanand argued over it all. Until one day, he could not take it anymore, and decided to kill her. The manner of her murder was gruesome, bone-chilling and definitely shocking. The bit where it was revealed that Shraddhanand allegedly buried Shakereh alive knocked the wind out of my lungs.
The police are involved, of course, who are forced to take this case seriously after Shakereh Khaleeli’s second daughter, Sabah, stood her ground that she believed that something wrong had happened to her mother and that she was not merely missing. Well, here comes the crossroad in the series. It offers you both perspectives – one from Shakereh’s side, and the other from Shraddhanand’s side.
The series shows Shraddhanand had the motive and the means to murder Shakereh Khaleeli but at the same all the evidence is circumstantial, and nothing concrete points the finger at him. It also shows how Shraddhanand is currently in jail after he was given a life sentence by the Supreme Court in 2008.
Verdict
When you watch true crime documentaries, you come with a mindset that you know the accused has committed the gruesome crime. But Dancing On The Grave throws in a twist by showing two sides of the case. It makes you question whether Shraddhanand actually murdered Shakereh Khaleeli or he just happened to be at the wrong place. Also, for a case that s based on the life and murder Shakereh Khaleeli, it does not focus on her. There are more clippings of the people providing information about her than of the lady herself. I would have very liked to hear what she sounded like, and real clips of her interacting with her family. But those bits are acted by the actors, and this compromises the authenticity of the case
The quick-paced episodes kept me hooked throughout. I found myself constantly arguing and going back and forth with the facts of the case to reach a conclusion about who is the culprit. Did Shraddhnanad really kill Shakereh or was he an unfortunate victim of being present at the wrong time, and getting involved with the wrong person? His jail interviews show him in a very different light, almost like a common man who did nothing wrong. He answers all the questions asked of him with factually correct information, which add a touch of integrity to his character.
There were a couple of questions swirling in my mind about the nature of the relationship between Shakereh and Shraddhanand. It is just shown that they were in love and soon got married after the former’s divorce from Akbar. What happened in such a short period of time? Also, why did Shakereh Khaleeli’s daughter Sabah wait for nine long months to finally file a complaint with the police that she sensed something was wrong with her mother? The lack of interest from the police’s side to look into a case of a woman with such powerful connections who was missing for such a long time also does not look too convincing. And how quickly Shraddhanand surrendered to the police makes you smell something fishy with the case.
Also read: Shaakuntalam Review: All That Screen Time And Very Little Samantha Ruth Prabhu Made It An Epic Fail
Dancing On The Grave made it difficult for me to pick sides because both sides seemed justified. That is the thing with circumstantial evidence. It all becomes a game of bad timing and you think it is better to blame the fates than either of the parties involved. I would still urge you to watch Dancing On Grave to decide for yourself. And let me in the comments below what your reaction was when you learnt why the docu-series was given this name. Because I gasped out loud when this bit was revealed!
Dancing On The Grave is available for streaming on Prime Video.