Anything which has ‘mandala’ in its name will let us believe that it has to do with a spiritual-mystic-mysterious sign that symbolises the universe in ancient texts. Created and co-directed by Gopi Puthran and Manan Rawat, with writing credits shared by Puthran, Anurag Goswami, Chirag Garg, Gabe Gabriel, Matt Graham, Avinash Dwivedi, ‘Mandala Murders’ tacks on a series of grisly murders, giving us a tale that goes back and forth in time — post-Independent India, the present day, and slices in between — two cops hot on the heels of the killer, and a trail of victims strewn on the streets of a town that looks like Benaras but is called Charandaspur.
If that sounds like a lot, it is. The eight episodes, ranging between 40-50 minutes, are stuffed with cults and rituals and flesh-gobbling machines that work on ‘oorja’ (energy), particle physicists and nuclear plants and dense forests, power-hungry politicians and their equally ambitious wives, ‘chhaya upaasaks’ (those who study spiritual shadows, whatever that might be), missing thumbs.. I’m sure I’ve missed out on a few things, but after a point, it became hard to track all the zig-zagging time zones, the shuddh-Hindi speaking characters (where else would you find them except Benaras, err Charandaspur), the dusty old volumes which help our duo, suspended Vikram Singh (Vaibhav Raj Gupta) and troubled Rhea Thomas (Vaani Kapoor), join the dots.
First, the good thing, in fact the best thing about the show. I haven’t read the book on which this show is based (Mahendra Jakhar’s The Butcher of Benaras), but it gets its atmospherics right. There’s the cave in which the gorgeous leader of the cult (Shriya Pilgaonkar) togged out in glittery gold-and-red attire revs up her followers even as lifeless bodies lie about on stretchers and a strange cannibalistic contraption lights up and whirrs in search of sustenance. There are the distinctive houses and kothis in which the characters do their job. Raghubir Yadav — the shadow worshipper’s modest ‘kutiya’ (cottage), Jameel Khan aka Jimmy’s colourful homestay, Surveen Chawla’s neta Ananya Bhardwaj’s large kothi, Vikram’s ‘pushtaini’ (ancestral) abode from where his mother went missing years ago and his father (Manu Rishi) holds the fort, Rhea’s desk in the cop station, the narrow gallis leading to the ghats, and the river: this is one of the most vividly shot shows I’ve seen in a while.
The other is the full-blown leaning into the gruesome. It’s also been a while I’ve seen scenes so revolting — headless torsos, limbs sewn onto a head minus the body, for example—on constant display. And as no one is allowed to avert their eyes, those horrifying visuals take their time disappearing. This adds to the flavour of unease.
Watch Mandala Murders trailer:
The trouble is the endless mumbo-jumbo and convoluted threads which keep cropping up. Of course, if you have mandalas, you expect some amount of gibberish, and if you have physicists, you expect jargon. But just as you can get used to even the sickening crunch of broken body parts if repeated too often, ‘Mandala Murders’ runs out of ideas, and then all there’s left is repetitive loops, and situations which stretch credulity.
Which is why not every actor in this big ensemble cast leaves an impression. Vaani Kapoor is trying to emulate the kind of movie cop we’ve seen too often, severe ponytail-and-tee, toned midriff, and well-tailored pants. Surveen Chawla reminds you a bit of Huma Qureshi’s character in ‘Maharani’, even if the former’s saris are far more striking. The one who stays consistently interesting, more or less, is Vaibhav Raj Gupta, whom we have seen in ‘Gullak’, as the eldest son of a small-town family trying to find his purpose. Here, he makes us forget that character, and slips into the skin of a policeman with a troubled past.
Buying into mandalas and occult and ‘dayans’ is hard enough. It is harder still if the plot points are left loose. If there is another season, maybe keep it shorter, and crisper? And go for a town with a name it can own up to. It does help in making us believe.
Story continues below this ad
Mandala Murders cast: Vaani Kapoor, Vaibhav Raj Gupta, Manu Rishi, Jameel Khan, Raghubir Yadav, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Aaditi Pohankar, Akash Dahiya
Mandala Murders director: Gopi Puthran, Manan Rawat
Mandala Murders rating: 2.5 stars
