Parminder Kaur Nagra was once told by a producer that "Brown people really don't sell things", and yet the accomplished British actress has forged a career in high-profile movies and TV for more than 20 years. Nagra played central character Jess Bhamra in Bend It Like Beckham in 2002, Dr. Neela Rasgotra in ER from 2003 to 2009, Meela Malik in The Blacklist, and had a recurring role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
But in 2022, Nagra stepped out of ensemble casts to really shine under the spotlight. In D.I. Ray, she stepped into the title role of the determined Birmingham-based Detective Inspector Rachita Ray. The first season, created by Maya Sondhi, introduced viewers to Ray, who had just been promoted to the homicide department, where she was thrown into a snakepit of police corruption and racism within the force. Solving a murder was only one of the challenges she faced as a British-Indian woman in a largely male, white service.
Parminder Nagra in season 1 of ‘D.I. Ray’ Credit: Distributor
It turns out that despite what an ignoramus producer once told her, Nagra can absolutely sell things. D.I. Ray proved such a success our intrepid policewoman is back for another season and another high-stakes case.
“After the mayhem that unravelled in season one, Maya had to come back and come up with another story for D.I. Ray. So, the first season filmed in 2022, but the story in season two takes place only a few weeks after season one ends. I couldn’t have asked for anything better in terms of the direction they took her in. The look and the feel is quite different. It’s much more noir, much more dark,” Nagra tells SBS.
[Note: some season one spoilers follow. We suggest watching Season One, which is streaming now , if you haven’t already]
This time, Ray is up against a high-profile family that has built its fortune in organised crime. The head of the family, Frank Chapman, is killed in a double homicide that also takes the life of a nurse, Megan Cutts, who is seemingly collateral damage in an assassination. But Ray arrives to this new job with the tarnish of corruption allegations resulting from her colleagues' behaviour. She may have been cleared of formal charges, but her superiors are watching her like vultures waiting to swoop. Ray has a steely core though, and her principles rule her life, as Nagra explains.
New challenges wait for Detective Inspector Rachita Ray (Parminder Nagra) in season 2. Credit: Justin Slee
“I feel like the core of who she is, which I don’t think will ever change, is that she’s very strong-willed, and she’s barely hanging in there in season two,” says Nagra. “She’s driven by the instinct and passion for being on right side of the truth. As long as I know what is important to her, then everything else that’s thrown at her is less important, because I can understand how she deals with it. That’s the fun part for me.”
When Ray throws herself into this new investigation in an effort to prove her worthiness as an honourable detective to her colleagues, and even to herself, she finds much more than she bargained for. Corruption stretches its dirty fingers into Birmingham City Council, where councillor Anita Choudhry has ties to the insidious trafficking crimes and revenge killings that are behind the battle between the Mochani and Chapman families.
The first episode opens with DI Ray on a treadmill, determinedly running at pace. Across town, a man and a woman lie dead, shot in a drive-by assassination. When Ray's phone rings, the story really kicks up a gear. In the familiar, fabulously grim style of British crime shows, it's the dead of night when Ray shows up to only the barest of yellow streetlights and flashing police lights as she and her team hover over the victims. The intrigue doesn’t let up from this point to the end, and Ray is inarguably in charge – whatever prejudices over her gender, race, and relationships hamper her work.
Ray and colleagues on the job. Credit: Justin Slee
Nagra often refers to her own experience in the screen industry during our interview, before ending the sentence with “just like Rachita”. There’s plenty that the actor and her protagonist have in common.
“This show reveals that you just want to be in your place of work on merit,” says Nagra. “To rise up the ranks accordingly, not ticking a box, and you just want fairness. You don’t want to be in something for the sake of diversity. For Rachita, it’s the same, there’s agendas from so many people around her and she just wants to do her job.”
You don’t want to be in something for the sake of diversity. For Rachita, it’s the same
Part of Nagra’s job is knowing Ray so well that she can discuss how a scene might unfold more authentically once filming begins.
“I turn up on set after the scriptwriters have fleshed out the story and dialogue, and then I tend to cut away dialogue with a look that speaks volumes. With Rachita, it’s what isn’t said that is more powerful.”
The silences, the meaningful glances and the grim, cold evenings all tie neatly into the noirish mood. It’s a classical British crime drama, and Nagra enthusiastically embraces the global appeal of the genre.
“The appetite for crime dramas exists because everyone just loves a puzzle. People want something that they can figure out,” she reflects.
Nagra has played a starring role in globally popular film and TV from the get-go. It’s impossible to know how work – including D.I. Ray – will be received, she says.
“Bend It Like Beckham went worldwide, even though it seemed like it was very culturally specific. But, teenagers everywhere are always struggling, and there’s an underdog who comes out triumphant. Essentially, it’s a relatable feelgood movie and that should be all you need.”
As for the phenomenally successful, long-running ER, Nagra says, “I look back at that and think ‘wow’ because every so often I catch it streaming, and a lot of those episodes were like movies. All you hope to do going forward is have a little bit of that in the work you go on to do. I always get nervous before we start something, wondering if I know how to act anymore. I used to be the youngest on set, and now I wonder ‘how did this happen?’ But, on set I know what works on camera, I do have a lot of experience, more than I give myself credit for. I want longevity. If you’re proud of what you do, that’s the goal.”
The new season of D.I. Ray airs Wednesdays nights on SBS from 24 July. Episodes will also be steaming at SBS On Demand after they air. Season One is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
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