Sector 36 Trailer: Vikrant Massey Departs From His Image In A Gripping Thriller

Netflix India unveiled the trailer of its upcoming crime thriller, Sector 36, today, September 5. Headlined by Vikrant Massey and Deepak Dobriyal, it has been backed by Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films and Jio Studios. Inspired by true events, the film is about a serial killer, Prem Singh (Massey) and a complacent police inspector, Ram Charan Pandey (Dobriyal). The latter is on the hunt for the devious killer after several children go missing from a basti (slum). Helmed by debutante Aditya Nimbalkar, Sector 36 is all set to premiere on Netflix on September 13.

Sector 36 trailer opens with a scene of Vikrant Massey at a police station, and a camera placed in front of him to record his statement/confession. He rises from his chair as soon as Deepak Dobriyal arrives. It then shows Vikrant luring children with chocolates, followed by abductions from the slums and finally killing them. Police leave no stone unturned to apprehend the killer but they fail due to the lack of evidence. A voiceover is played about Newton's Third Law of Motion, i.e. “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” 

Vikrant reveals to police he is worried about his six-year-old daughter in his village. He later kidnaps the police inspector’s daughter and then the real 'cat and mouse chase to the dark and unsettling truth' begins. Towards the end of the trailer, Vikrant, confident, promises to answer everything during the police investigation. The gripping narrative seems to make Sector 36 worth watching.

Watch Sector 36 trailer here.

Will Sector 36 be yet another career-defining project for Vikrant Massey?

Sector 36, where Massey plays a cunning serial killer is unlike his previous work. Prem Singh, his character is layered and difficult. It would be interesting to see how the 12th Fail actor has transitioned from playing the real-life character IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma to now a serial killer.  

From starting off as a dancer in Shiamak Davar's troupe to his first TV show, and making a foray into Bollywood, and web series to bagging leading roles, Vikrant has come a long way.

The 37-year-old actor has experimented various kinds of roles. Films and shows like Lootera, A Death in the Gunj, Mirzapur, Broken But Beautiful, Criminal Justice and 12th Fail among others stand testament to his brilliance as an actor.

Vikrant promises to wow the audience with his never-seen-before avatar and yet another bravura performance in Sector 36.

Is Sector 36 based on real-life story?

The film is presumably based on the horrendous 2006 Noida serial murders (also known as the Nithari serial murders or Nithari case).

The Nithari serial murders, are said to have been committed between 2005 and 2006 by Moninder Singh Pandher and his house-help Surendra Koli. 

The murders grabbed attention when two residents of Nithari village reported they knew the location of the remains of the missing children. Residents also claimed to have found a decomposed hand in a drain, after which they contacted the police.

Koli, later confessed that he killed six children and a 20-year-old woman named Payal after sexually assaulting them. On December 26 and 27, Moninder Singh Pandher, and Koli were taken into police custody in connection with the disappearance of 'Payal'. During the hunt, police recovered remains of eight children from the drain behind Pandher's house in Nithari, Noida. Further searches led to skeleton remains of several young women and children.

Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the brutal murder case and the agency recovered more bones.

19 FIRs were filed against Pandher and Koli relating to crimes against 19 different girls. CBI filed chargesheets in 16 of them.

On February 13, 2009, they were convicted and sentenced to death by a special CBI court for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old.

In 2023, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Pandhar in two cases and Koli- the prime suspect- in 12 cases- convicted in one case and is in jail.

The High Court set them free due to a lack of evidence and because the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, PTI reported.

Sector 36 will not only show the heinous murders by the serial killer, but will also throw light on class disparity, inequality and how crime proliferates when left unchecked. .