Black, White and Gray: The uncomfortable fiction of this highly rated crime series

India Today

10-05-2025

Imagine this: you're cosied up on your couch, popcorn in hand, ready for your usual true crime binge. You hit play on SonyLIV's latest show 'Black, White and Gray - Love Kills', and ten minutes in, you're convinced you're knee-deep in a Netflix-style crime documentary. There's moody narration, dim lighting, flashback cuts, and lovers with secrets - thicker than a plot twist in any ordinary crime drama. But here's the catch: it's not a documentary. Yes, 'Love Kills' is pure fiction. But it's crafted so realistically, it'll have you googling about its originality.advertisementLet's just say the creators of 'Love Kills' knew exactly what they were doing. The show is structured like a true-crime series, each episode presenting a new narrative of love gone dark - think 'Indian Matchmaking' meets 'Crime Patrol' with HBO aesthetics. But, instead of interviews with real people, we get flawless acting and dramatisations so tight, you feel like you're watching newly discovered footage of someone's spiralled real-life relationship, only with an expectation of a 'Based on true events' line to pop up.Set in Nagpur 2020, this six-episode binge-worthy series throws you headfirst into the mind of Daniel Gray - a UK-based filmmaker with a serious obsession with unearthing the secrets India has buried. And let's just say, his documentary style is instantly gripping. Like, cancel-all-your-other-plans kind of gripping!advertisement
The story kicks off with Gray investigating a jaw-dropping case involving a 26-year-old man accused of killing four people - and not just anyone - the woman he claimed he loved, a police officer, a young boy, and a cab driver. At first glance, 'Black, White and Gray' might look like your typical true crime docu-thriller with the whole 'what happened, who did it, and why' formula. But, hold on to it, because this show flips the script real quick. By the end of episode one, you're not asking 'whodunnit,' you're asking, 'Wait, what did I just watch?'This isn't your standard plot-twist-for-clout type of deal. The story refuses to be neatly packed into good vs evil. It's murky, it's messy, and it thrives in the uncomfortable middle. Truth? Not so black and white - and that's the whole point.With slick dramatised re-enactments, the show almost had me buying into the story as pure fact - and honestly, it did it with more conviction and cinematic flair than most. The documentary filmmaker doesn't just scratch the surface - he goes full detective, interviewing everyone even remotely tied to the case: the lead investigator, grieving families, the girl's best friend, a woman cop, the hired hitman, the eyewitnesses, the accused's parents, and finally, the accused himself.advertisementAnd once you feel you're settled with your version of truth, believe everything that is shown, carefully listen to each version of the story, extract your own information from it, and right there you also begin to question the reality of all of it. However, no matter how convincing it gets, it hits you hard when you realise it's a mockumentary (Yes!) rather than a true-crime documentary, making it feel like a personal betrayal.And that, right there, that's where 'Love Kills' separates itself from the crowd. It's not just another crime show - it's a deep dive into obsession, truth, and the very blurry line between storytelling and reality. It says, 'What if we made it all up but made it look TOO real?' And somehow, it's scarier. Because now you're not just fearing real-life creeps, you're scared of how believable fiction can be. It blurs the lines, and in doing so, mirrors how messy and complicated real relationships can feel.'Black, White and Grey - Love Kills' is a mind game. It lures you in with its true-crime coat, then punches you in the gut with emotional depth and masterful storytelling. It's fiction, yes, but it'll haunt you like a cold case you never solved.