Prime Video’s recent docu series Dancing on the Grave shed light on a macabre case of murder from three decades ago. The show, which used interviews of families, investigators, lawyers, and even the convicted killer, talked about the infamous murder of socialite Shakereh Khaleeli from 1991, who was buried alive by her husband Swami Shraddhanand in their house. Talking to DNA, the show’s director Patrick Graham and producer Chandni Ahlawat Dabas opened up on the need to retell the story and why they chose to give the perpetrator Shraddhanand a platform for his views.
Shakereh Khaleeli’s murder took place in 1991. The body was discovered three years later and the case continued over the next few years. The show comes three decades after the crime. What as the need to tell the story now, one may ask. Patrick responds, “Any good story remains universal and relevant throughout the ages. We’re still obsessed with stories that are thousands of years old. But this one, it still has ramifications to contemporary times, because there are ongoing litigations because of what happened 30 years ago. It’s very much a contemporary story that lives with us to this day.”
Dancing on the Grave largely deals in testimonies of people involved in the case but like most true crime documentaries, it does use subtle dramatisations of the incident. Talking about how they ensured that stays sensitive, Patrick says, “We didn’t want cheesy recreations. We wanted to keep it tasteful and more impressionistic so that we don’t have full, dramatised scenes with dialogue and drama. It’s much more suggestive. We never wanted to dwell on the faces of the characters. It gave a kind of cinematic fluidity to the narrative, whilst making sure it was tasteful.”
The series includes detailed interviews with Shraddhanand aka Murali Manohar Mishra, who is currently in a jail in Sagar and has been in prison for close to 30 years now. Chandni says, “What was unusual in the talking heads we made a wish list of was that we managed to go and interview Murali Manohar Mishra aka Shraddhanand in the jail. The dichotomy between a frail old man and someone who is capable of something so heinous was striking. For me, this was a unique thing that we managed to do in terms of our subjects and access.” Adding to this, Patrick says, “He presents himself as this sweet, old man but he has been convicted by every court in the land. You can lull yourself into believing that you are talking to a sweet, old uncle but you have got to remind yourself that he has done this terrible thing.”
For a documentary to include the convicted killer’s side of things is a tricky situation. On one hand, it helps present a more complete picture of the episode. On the other hand, it ends up in you helping a convicted killer say his piece. Reacting to this conundrum, Patrick says, “I think we are just presenting another perspective in the story. He is not given more or less weight than certain other characters that we speak to. We wanted to present this story with as many perspectives as we could. So, he is just another part of the story.” Chandni adds, “I don’t think the story is sympathetic to him at all. In a true crime situation, it’s very interesting to try and understand the mind of someone who has committed a crime like this. This was not really to give him a platform in any sense.”
Dancing on the Grave is a four-part docu-series that is currently streaming on Prime Video.
