Dateline: March 8

Tonight Dateline on SBS reveals the extraordinary work of India’s lady detectives who go undercover to help young and old navigate the future of love and marriage.

In the age of Facebook and Whatsapp, old and new worlds collide, rewiring society in many ways. In India, romance and marriage are at the heart of its biggest cultural shifts. Thanks to technology and a rising middle class, many of India’s millennials are breaking away from strict arranged marriage traditions to follow their heart, and it’s causing a wave of problems and concerns for older generations.

Rajani Pandit is the first lady detective of India and specialises in the booming trade of pre and post marital investigations. Families call on Rajani whenever they suspect that a family member is seeing someone outside of the their approval.

“Mostly parents come to see me.. they really care about making sure that their children aren’t taken advantage of,” Rajani tells Dateline.

From the street, Rajani keeps a low profile, because technically her work isn’t legal in India. She uses disguises to track and follow her subjects, and claims the burqa is her best disguise.

Rajani has solved a total of 7,500 cases in India, some with devastating consequences. Dateline follows one of these cases as Rajani investigates a man a family suspects may already be married… with children. Is he telling the truth?

With social media changing the way the world connects, can love detectives like Rajani bridge the gap between the old and new generations?

Tuesday, 8 March at 9.30pm on SBS.