POPCORN REVIEWSS

Based on the literary work of Mahendra Jakhar titled ‘The Butcher Of Benaras’, the cold open of Mandala Murders (set in 1952) is both intriguing while setting up its theme of the commoners versus the cult, science versus divinity, black magic versus a modern technique of immortality, all of which fall in the larger umbrella of good versus evil. Yet, the opening act isn’t fully designed to allow you room to pick sides – you aren’t sure whether to pick the kingpin of a village called Charandaspur as he urges the mob to annihilate a group of individuals supposedly in the middle of a ritual, or whether to side with Rukmini (Shriya Pilgaonkar) as she instructs the ritual to be carried out until the last moment. It is an interesting dilemma that would eventually lay the foundation to a murder mystery in the current timeline, just that the drama struggles with the identity around this genre.

One of the weaker aspects of the show is the characterization, mainly featuring so many characters that appear out of nowhere without a proper buildup. When you are introduced to Vikram (Vaibhav Raj Gupta), a suspended cop from Delhi on his way to Charandaspur with his father, there is a history tagged to it. Years ago, his mother has been missing following a tragedy that kept the family under a lot of pain. But the writing skips the specifics here – why is Vikram seeking the answers behind his mother’s disappearance now after so many years? (Just because he is suspended, makes it lazy writing given how there should be some event to link him to the place in the current timeline). Additionally, you get to know certain details that don’t really come together in the script – his girlfriend Kavita (Monica Chaudhary) is in coma, he shares a discreetly sexual affair with Kavita’s sister Ananya (Surveen Chawla), the local politician who is on the cusp of fighting an election much to the dismay of her ‘crippled’ husband. These details are fleeting but also distracting from the main plot. And to make matters worse, the motive of Vikram continue to get blurred with every passing minute in the narrative.

There is another protagonist in the mix – a fiery Rea Thomas (Vaani Kapoor) who is introduced only after Vikram discovers a dead body mutilated in a way to stitch the limbs together, floating on the banks of the river. It again is an interesting start, but the lack of detailing doesn’t allow the drama to soar – the internal conflict of Rea is so loose that it hardly creates a cardboard cutout of a character that would go on to play a major role in solving the case. Imagine if the trauma had her getting visions that would blur the truth of her current reality with respect to the victims. The ingredients are there, the writers even go for it, but where is the establishment?

The format of the drama is about introducing a character, linking the same to a generational saga before bumping that person off. It is almost episodic wherein you begin to wonder on who the character is, and what is his backstory, just before watching him die. The politics of the arena is almost introduced as an after-thought while having no real bearing on the story. And so, I was slightly perplexed by the timid approach here, wherein you almost got a feeling that the writing was a little too cautious, steering clear of the religion angle despite the story having heavy layers of mythology in the mix, something that drastically lowered the impact.

It was kind of odd to explain things on how there are 8 signs (wait, did they reduce it to 7 by the end of it?), and each sign is tagged to a potential victim that needs to be deciphered. And I say odd because the characters are never shown to decipher stuff, but mostly ‘guessing’ on the next victim, even while witnessing the death of one victim after another. It is also similar to a certain IT company terming that its employees are ready for the onset of AI, without giving them handson experience while only relying on competancies.

It hardly felt like a murder mystery, it hardly even felt like a mytho-mystery given how easily the characters are swayed into believing the ‘divinity’ and ‘cult’ behind the deaths, without questioning even once (and these are city-bourne characters). Ideally, I would have liked a bit of unraveling to take place as opposed to offering everything on the platter for the characters (and the viewers). It is watchable but not ideal in my opinion!

I must admit that the drama does cover some ground when it traces to an extended flashback when you get a clearer picture of the situation (despite a certain character disappearing from the setup). And although that sequence remains slightly overstuffed, it stays true to its core themes of mythology and the demarcation between science and divinity. But, this statement comes with a rider – the literary text doesn’t exactly transition with clarity on celluloid, a trait that can best be termed as poor execution. It is almost as if all the ingredients are ready for a sumptuous meal – but the cook falters with the broth! Hence by the end of it, things are so brisk and simplistic that even the final revelation doesn’t carry the same impact (hell, they even introduced a completely new character in the final episode). And if that wasn’t enough the ‘massy’ over the top conclusion to the drama did not help its cause too, thereby concluding a screenplay that had its moments but it never fully came together due to micro-issues that collective brought the drama down.