MUMBAI: Star World Premiere HD turns up the drama this month with the gripping limited TV series ‘ Shots Fired’ that will exclusively air on the channel every Saturday, 10pm starting 25 March.
Set in a North Carolina town, Shots Fired is not just another police drama series! After decades of turning away from some of America’s most pressing racial problems, world television has finally started looking eye to eye in times of adversity as it takes on the courageous topic of conversation of police violence in America with the upcoming series.
With the ‘Black Lives Matter Vs Blue Lives Matter’ debate at its very helm and multiple investigations at its heart, the series centers on the shootings of an unarmed white college student on one hand and a young black boy on the other that sparks what will eventually be an uproar.
After a black sheriff's deputy shoots an unarmed white college student, the small, racially and economically divided town of North Carolina city of Gates Station is on edge. This is when ambitious Special Prosecutor Preston Terry (played by Stephan James) and cop-turned-investigator Ashe Akino (played by Sanaa Lathan) are appointed by the Department of Justice to sift through the evidence and prevent any perception of impropriety in the case. Although they receive support from the governor (played by Helen Hunt) and the local sheriff (played by Will Patton) initially, the town reckons a force that will tear North Carolina apart as the case begins to point toward departmental corruption and a largely ignored, police shooting of an unarmed African-American youngster.
Produced by Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood of Before I Fall fame, the series draws inspiration from a spate of real-life murders of young black men by white cops in several American cities and towns but reverses the roles by posing the most important question – ‘What If It Was You?’
Reggie Rock Bythewood, co-producer and the man behind the show shares his thoughts on the kind of content that he wants to deliver to audiences worldwide: “Sure, Shots Fired is a very entertaining show with a mystery that we hope the audience leans into, but we aren't shying away from the fact that this is a relevant social subject matter that we feel as artists and as African Americans has to be dealt with,”
The series that premiered back in January 2017 at the Sundance Film Festival and received a pool of stellar reviews, stars a powerhouse of talent - actors Sanaa Lathan (The Perfect Guy, Now You See Me 2, Alien vs. Predator, Blade fame) and Stephan James (Race, Across The Line, Selma fame) in lead roles alongside Oscar winners Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, The Goodbye Girl fame) and Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets, Mad About You, Cast Away, The Sessions, What Women Want fame) who play powerful figureheads pulled into the controversy.
