In the dimly lit corridors of Mandala Murders, where flickering bulbs cast shadows like whispered secrets and the air feels heavy with unspoken truths, Vaani Kapoor has traded red carpets for emotional minefields. Known for her romantic, glamorous roles, she now slips into the skin of Rea Thomas — a character who says as much in silence as she does in words. It’s the kind of transformation that makes you sit up and ask: how far can an actor go to disappear into someone else’s wounds?
EXCLUSIVE: Mandala Murders and the making of Vaani Kapoor’s most haunting performance; “Rea wasn’t just a role I played – she was a state of mind I had to live in”
Vaani, Mandala Murders is a big shift from your earlier work — what drew you to this gritty, psychological crime thriller?
What instantly hooked me about Mandala Murders was its distinct tone, this rare blend of mythology and crime thriller that felt unlike anything I’d done before. Rea Thomas’s journey was deeply internal… her silences, her restraint, the sudden flashes that leave her numb & frozen, all of it stemmed from a very real, very raw place of trauma. She wasn’t a cop chasing just clues. She was a woman quietly wrestling with her own demons while navigating an unpredictable, out-of-the-ordinary mystery. Sometimes the most powerful emotions aren’t worn loudly on your sleeve.
Your character in the series is layered and emotionally complex. How did you prepare to tap into such a dark and intense headspace?
For someone like Rea, emotions had to stay beneath the surface because showing vulnerability in her world can feel dangerous. Trauma teaches you to protect yourself, often by controlling what you reveal to others. Expressing pain or fear openly might make her feel exposed or weak, so she learns to carry those feelings quietly, like a weight she alone must bear. It’s a survival mechanism, one that shapes how she interacts with the world… always cautious & guarded. To prepare for this, I did speak to mental health professionals… researched about PTSD, especially in law enforcement officers who face trauma regularly. I wanted to understand not just the symptoms, but how trauma changes the way someone reacts — how it can make them emotionally restrained, hyper aware, and guarded.
You’ve played glamorous and romantic roles in the past, but Mandala Murders required a very different tone and energy. Was it challenging to shed your past screen image for this role?
I’ve always believed that as an actor, it’s important to explore different facets of storytelling and characters. Shedding that glamorous, romantic image wasn’t so much a challenge as it was an opportunity to dive into something raw, complex and real. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to grow in ways I hadn’t before — which is exactly what I look for in a role.
The show’s investigative edge isn’t built on frantic clue-chasing but on a quieter, more unsettling tension. Each scene feels like a held breath. Kapoor credits that mood to the writing, the lighting, and the psychological realism baked into Rhea’s character.
The series has a heavy investigative angle — did you draw inspiration from any real-life detectives or fictional portrayals while building your character?
I focused more on understanding her mindset and emotional world rather than modelling her after specific detectives. What mattered most was capturing how Rea balances her trauma while doing her job. Bringing that mix of strength and vulnerability was my main focus.
As the conversation winds down, Kapoor leans back, reflective. Mandala Murders may be a detour from the Vaani audiences thought they knew, but it feels less like reinvention and more like revelation. And if her portrayal of Rea Thomas proves anything, it’s that some of the most compelling performances aren’t about what an actor shows — but what they dare to withhold. For Kapoor, that restraint might just be the key to unlocking her boldest chapter yet.
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