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Mandala Murders Review: Mystique and Mystery rooted in History!
‘Mandala Murders’ - unfolds as a suspenseful saga of signs, symbols and secrets that links to the quaint town of Charandaspur, and traces to the mystical Varuna forests which harbours a chilling history rooted in cult and religious rituals.
Mandala Murders Synopsis
The heinous murder of a photographer shakes the town and baffles a suspended Delhi-based cop, Vikram (Vaibhav Raj Gupta). The body is mutilated with the limbs stitched to the head and the torso is missing – calls for a deeper probe with Vikram, who has returned to his hometown with his Dad (Manu Rishi) with a hope of finding his mother, absconding since 22 years, uniting with the CIB detective, Rea Thomas (Vaani Kapoor, in her digital debut).
While the town witnesses a political upheaval with Ananya Bhardwaj (Surveen Chawla) contesting for the upcoming elections and facing heat from the local gangster siblings - Sujoy and Vijay, more bodies pile up signaling the involvement of a psychotic killer with twisted ties to cult and ritualistic murders.
Gopi Puthran (of Mardaani fame) and co-director Manan Rawat create a tense and gripping world of intrigue with layers that keep the viewers invested with the serial murders and mystery entangled in the cobweb of fate, extremism and prophecy. Puthran is a master of atmosphere and his astute storytelling skills lend Mandala its psychological depth and a striking core theme of conflict between Bhagwaan and Vigyan – science and faith.
Further backed by strong pivotal characters with rich emotional arcs, Mandala emerges as a solid entertainer where you would like to invest and let the pressure cooker urgency and the rich, eerie visuals create an increasingly immersive experience.
But it sees a drastic downslide during the last two episodes – the robust built-up during the initial ones fades and looks incoherent as the plot grapples with the Ayastal society, women engaged in black-magic and stained as witches, and a super-power deity in the making (that goes by the name Yast), clearly losing out to the intrigue emanating from a coin-consuming machine that consumes your thumb in lieu of a boon.
The backstories and shaky portions around the nuclear power plant involving Shriya Pilgaonkar (as Rukmini) and Sunny Hinduja (as Aman Pant) are salvaged by a sure-footed performance from Vaibhav Raj Gupta. His Vikram, surrounded by grief and guilt, gives an emotional verve to the show that’s clearly more interested in the martial action and sword fights that Vaani engages in – her acting chops are still missing in this dense murder mystery. Gupta re-ignites the Gullak camaraderie with Jameel Khan’s Jimmy Khan – an extended cameo that still adds bright spots in the suspense. Ditto for a shadow worshipper, who goes by the name Kaivalya Shastri, played by the wonderful Raghuvir Yadav.
Mandala Murders Review - Final words
Despite those flaws, Mandala Murders works for its atmospherics, solid ensemble and the enigma around the cult – which, apparently, hasn’t yet been completely explored and there's certainly another season coming up.
I go with 3.5 stars out of 5 for Mandala Murders.
The eight-part web series is produced by YRF Entertainment and streaming on Netflix from 25th July 2025
Ahwaan Padhee, is an IT Techie/Business Consultant by profession and a film critic/cinephile by passion, is also associated with Radio Playback as well, loves writing and conducting movie quizzes. More By Ahwaan Padhee