In cold blood: the murder that changed the media, the law, and India

It’s hard to follow a comedienne – and precede a maverick filmmaker, but if something can do it, crime can.

And in the world of riveting crime, few things match up to the shape-shifting Nanavati case, which in the words of Bachi Karkaria, dealt “not with the straightforward triangles of geography but the more inexplicable triangles of chemistry.”

The case changed more than just the face of Indian jurisprudence – it was the last jury trial in the country – but dealt with astonishingly complex points of law, and kicked off the legal careers of luminaries like Ram Jethmalani, among others.

And now, in a new book, Bachi digs out fascinating new details and nuances of a case we believe we know everything about .

Where Bachi’s telling most succeeds is in capturing the mood and madness that took over the country as the case came to public attention: the personality cult built around Kawas Nanavati, the public battle the newspaper Blitz launched on his behalf, and what wily machinations of class and character-building led public opinion to damn the murdered and proclaim the murderer a hero.

If the law, media trials and crimes of passion are your thing, watch the full session above.