The shoot of Delhi Crime couldn't have been easy for Shefali Shah. Ever so often, she found herself pausing and reflecting on the gruesome nature of the crime. "The interrogation scene, where Jai Singh [one of the perpetrators] cruelly narrates the entire incident, made me want to throw up," begins Shah. Writer-director Richie Mehta's web series traces the aftermath of the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case as the cops nab the perpetrators. Shah as deputy commissioner of police Vartika Chaturvedi — who leads the investigation — was widely appreciated for her powerful act.

Breaking through the line of performance and reality is the most important step for me as an actor. Call it a weakness or a strength, but I can't act. I don't strive to be like the character; instead, I become the character," she says. That she was deeply invested in the story only added to her performance. "The pain and anger that I felt in December 2012 was harnessed by Vartika in her single-minded focus on catching those guys."