Vaani Kapoor has been leading headlines with her role as ‘Rea Thomas’ in YRF’s crime thriller, Mandala Murders. The series has been streaming on Netflix and was exclusively aired on July 25, 2025. With a total of 8 episodes, Mandala Murders received some impressive reviews from viewers, while critics and movie lovers noted inconsistent pacing. Set in the village of Charandaspur, the series Mandala Murders deals with ‘Rea Thomas’, Vaani’s investigation journey to solve some gruesome murder mysteries that had been connected to the cult of ‘Aayastis’, whose aim was to resurrect ‘Yast’, a human-god.
Vaani Kapoor’s crime-thriller, Mandala Murders features layers of stories packed with pseudo-science and mythological twists
Mandala Murders began with a series of gruesome murders that take place in Charandaspur. All of these cases were connected by a common thread, which was that the victims’ body parts remained missing. Office ‘Rea Thomas’ and ‘Vikram Singh’ began the investigation and found out that the murders were the work of the cult of ‘Aayastis’.
The group had the aim to resurrect ‘Yast’ to life, who would have power and control. Following ancient techniques and mixing them with modern technologies, these gruesome murders took place, while the body parts of the victims were cut and formed into a mandala. The final sacrifice was to be done by sacrificing ‘Vikram Singh’, which was stopped by ‘Rea Thomas’, who killed the antagonist. But was she able to stop the aim of ‘Aayastis’, which was to bring back ‘Yast’?
Vaani Kapoor’s crime-thriller, Mandala Murders’ ending explained
‘Rea Thomas’, while investigating, found out how she was connected with the Mandala murders. It was her grandmom, Nandini, who was a part of ‘Aayastis’ decades ago. While ‘Yast’ was about to come to life, Nandini realised what the consequences could be, and thus, she destroyed a critical ritual, thereby hampering the aim. The antagonist, ‘Ananya’, the new leader of ‘Aayastis’, also has an age-old connection to this cult, as her grandmother, ‘Rukmini Devi’ was the original founder of ‘Aayastis’.
Talking about the ending, it remained as a question mark, whether even after killing ‘Ananya’, ‘Rea Thomas’ was able to stop ‘Yast’s resurrection. Having said that, when ‘Vikram Singh’ was to be sacrificed, ‘Rea’ stabbed ‘Ananya’, so the final ritual was hampered. But the series didn’t end there. It showed another cult member, ‘Moksha’, smiling at the camera, being jailed, which sparked a suspicious interest among the audience, leaving them guessing about the next season. The machine, which was used to bring back ‘Yast’, turned black, giving a hint that it might still be active.
Netizens review Vaani Kapoor’s crime-thriller, Mandala Murders
Netizens have mixed reviews on Mandala Murders. The series was widely loved by those who binge on occult mysteries, crime thrillers or mythological storytelling, while some talked about the inconsistency of the series’ pacing. Some even pointed out the uneven emotional drawbacks in the series, which held it back, along with the uneven mythological stories.
One user on X penned, “Bold, intense—but muddles mysticism. Vaani Kapoor anchors a visually striking crime thriller steeped in myth, yet tangled timelines and cult-laced dialogues often divert the punch. Still, the ritualistic murder scenes and gripping atmosphere make it binge-worthy—if you stay engaged.” Another user commented, “Curse is sitting through eight clumpy, crushingly boring episodes of #MandalaMurders, its crackpot mythology and jumbled plotting.”
Have you watched Mandala Murders yet? What do you think about Vaani Kapoor’s OTT debut?
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