While The Fable might be viewed as a meta-physical mystery given its early premise of Dev noticing an unusual activity in his apple orchard, it is important to touch upon some of the social and political commentary lacing the narrative through the characters. Dev and his family are the colonial owners of the land that dates back to the British era, wherein he has a bunch of folks from the village working at his orchard. None of the workers are in stark disbelief of Dev owning a pair of human wings, an early sign that this might be a regular activity in the vicinity. But it also showcases the widening class divide between the characters and their status quos – something that is further widening after the incident involving Dev noticing an apple tree set on fire, immediately suspecting some of his most loyal workers who spend most of their time in his orchard for a meagre sum of money.

Dev isn’t your stereotypical autocrat who is oppressive towards his staff. In fact, you barely see him raising his voice even while being calm and collected in the worst of situations (read : the apple tree being set on fire). Yet as they say, the mildest of moments can corrupt an individual, the one that is true even for Dev who in turn is also not viewed as a person with a halo by some of the workers. In fact, the inheritence of land speaks volumes of his colonial mindset, no matter how passive it appears to be. Therefore, it comes hardly as a surprise when Dev instructs his manager Mohan to get to the bottom of things. Elsewhere, Dev’s daughter Vanya (a clever take on forests that essentially pull her towards them), is a symbol of the new era of thinking (much like Gen Zs of today) that is rebellious and uninhibited while venturing into the woods to stumbling upon a character from the indigineous tribe to an inference on her s*xual awakening.

The social commentary in the drama is also nicely blended in the narrative even as the ‘mystery’ is revealed in the form of layers, one layer at a time. In a scene, you see a character talking about pesticides being used in the orchard, a direct inference to the environment and how humans are barely sparing a speck for the next generation. There is also a reference to a firefly that makes for a beautiful painting of sorts when looked upon at a distance, even while causing harm in the form of fire and loss the closer you get to it. In a way, it equates with the character of Dev too who may have had a calm demeanor from the onset but does more harm to his staff, just on the pretext of suspecting the involvement of someone from within that completely makes him lose sight of his morality. The commentary of law being in alignment with the autocrat is also a relevant plot-point in the whole maze.

This brings me to the final act that stays unflinchingly true to its title that can be interpreted in many ways. It can represent the death of colonialism and the rebirth of freedom in the midst of realisation on the part of Dev, it can also represent the unwittingly presence of an autocrat who achieves the status of ‘God’ (or in this case a fairy), a resounding callback to a character that makes a similar inference at an earlier point in the drama. A third possibility is that of a class divide wherein the autocrat and his family can get away with anything, and literally fly away while the folks of the village are generally trapped in a land that is polluted by money and power. The ‘fairy’, generally equated with magical realism and love is used as a symbol of power and authority, for the good or for the worse based on how you would like to interpret it. The screenplay is a niche and may not appeal to everyone, but it definitely has wonderful rewards should you choose to look beyond the obvious.