What Is the Story About?
In the haunted town of Charandaspur, CIB officer Rea Thomas (Vaani Kapoor) investigates ritualistic murders that follow mandala-shaped patterns, each victim chosen for specific body parts. The killings trace back to an occult cult called the Aayastis, obsessed with creating a god‑like being named Yast, assembled using human flesh per ancient spiritual geometry.
Rea teams up with Vikram Singh (Vaibhav Raj Gupta), whose family’s hidden ties to the cult deepen the mystery. Parallel flashbacks reveal the cult’s origin in the 1950s and the ideological battle between Rea’s grandmother, who sabotaged the original ritual, and Ananya Bhardwaj (Surveen Chawla), whose political rise revives the cult’s mission.
And the rest, I won’t spoil it for you.
Performances?
Vaani Kapoor makes a commanding OTT debut as Rea Thomas, the steady glue the series needs. She carries the mystery with quiet authority, moving through chaos with poise, and anchors the emotional core even when the plot falters. Her performance feels confident and controlled, giving Rea a believable emotional arc in a world that’s frequently chaotic.
Vaibhav Raj Gupta surprises as Vikram Singh, stepping away from his lighter roles to portray a cop haunted by grief and legacy. He brings layers of conflict, regret, and loyalty to every frame, becoming the show’s heart when other strands unravel.
Surveen Chawla plays Ananya Bhardwaj with ambition and spectral intensity, though an occasionally stiff accent and tonal inconsistency puncture her impact. Still, she commands attention in her key scenes.
Shriya Pilgaonkar’s flashback performance as cult founder Rukmini Devi is brief yet haunting, but underwritten. Ensemble actors like Jameel Khan and Raghubir Yadav bring texture but rarely break free from background roles.
Analysis
Mandala Murders aims high with a blend of ritualistic crime, mysticism, and mythology, but wobbles in execution.
The series is rooted in Charandaspur’s cult lore: the Ayastis seek to resurrect a man-made god named Yast, harvesting ideal body parts to form this utopian vessel. The idea is bold, symbolic, and deeply unsettling. But as early episodes unfold, the narrative feels tangled in heavy exposition, flashbacks, and overstuffed backstories, making it difficult to follow, especially before episode four when the plot finally clicks into place.
Visually, the show is strong: bruised tones, foggy locales, ritual chambers, and mandala motifs give the series a brooding, almost gothic, power. But those aesthetics sometimes mask superficial storytelling: one critic compared key sci-fi props, like a thumb-sacrifice machine, to cheesy Doordarshan relics, alienating rather than captivating.
Character arcs are uneven. Rea’s personal backstory occasionally feels forced into relevance rather than earned. Although Vaani Kapoor shows steady presence, her emotional reactions often fall flat under the weight of symbolism.
Surveen Chawla’s Ananya offers a fierce contrast: her rock-steady ambition and cult fanaticism lend clarity to the finale. Vaibhav Raj Gupta as Vikram Singh is the emotional anchor, but the emotional payoff feels shallow given his personal trauma is underdeveloped and spread too thin.
Ambition is Mandala Murders’ greatest strength, and its undoing. It carries the appetite of an epic mythological thriller, but delivers a truncated, confused execution where too many threads lead to too few answers. When the climax arrives and reveals the Yast ritual in motion, the payoff hovers between catharsis and anticlimax: you admire the spectacle, but you don’t quite believe it.
In short: Mandala Murders is visually arresting, conceptually interesting, and occasionally gripping. But its narrative overreach, structural confusion, and emotional distance leave it less immersive than its ambition promised.
Music and Other Departments?
Mandala Murders looks gorgeous. The foggy lanes, cult symbols, and eerie small-town settings are captured beautifully. The directors, Gopi Puthran and Manan Rawat, clearly know how to build atmosphere, it often feels like you’re walking through a crime novel.
The background score by Sanchit and Ankit Balhara does its job quietly. It doesn’t overpower scenes, but it also doesn’t stay with you. It works in the moment, but you probably won’t hum it later.
Casting is solid. Vaani Kapoor gives a surprisingly strong performance, confident, controlled, and not trying too hard. Vaibhav Raj Gupta brings honesty to his role, and Surveen Chawla is compelling in her limited screen time. But some of the other characters fall flat, not because the actors were bad, but because their parts didn’t give them much to work with.
Visually and technically, the show delivers. It’s the writing that wobbles.
Highlights?
Vaani Kapoor (sometimes she carries parts of the show)
The overall atmosphere is eerie sometimes
Explored the cult angle well
Good camera work
Drawbacks?
Sloppy writing
Support cast hasn’t been explored
Pacing issue midway
Did I Enjoy It?
At parts, but overall mediocre
Will You Recommend It?
This week, when nothing exciting is there, it can be somewhat enjoyable.
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