Indian rural folklore is full of stories of superstitions, witchcraft and hidden practices. While terminologies or details may vary with PIN codes, what remains constant is the paralyzing fear of the unknown, which often pushes one to extremes that challenge humanity and incredible crimes.
The last Manvat Murders of the Sonyliv website is a similar history of hidden murders, based on the horrible murders that shook the Manevat de Maharashtra village in the 70s. In a period of two years, brutally carnícesas were found of 11 girls and women in the village, with blood extracted from their private parts, hinting at a ritualist connection.
The thriller of eight parts of Marathi begins with the murder of a woman who works in a field for two masked men, who take an ax to their head. She is just one among many victims. The entire region is trapped in terror and women are afraid to leave their homes alone.
Then they introduce us to Ramakant Kulkarni (Ashutosh Gowariker), a police officer decorated with an impressive history to solve all their cases. Once the bodies accumulate, Kulkarni is sent from Mumbai to Manvat to find the culprit behind the horrible murders.
Sonali Kulkarni has performed a star performance in the series
Kulkarni is the opposite pole of his corrupt colleagues. He has great interest in criminal psychology, has his own tactics to extract information from people and withdraws even from the smallest details of the case. While the team around him is impatient, clueless and dishonest, the balanced officer has all his movements calculated in advance.
As the investigation progresses, one of the main suspects turns out to be a local couple: Utamrao Barahate (Makrand Anaspure) and its Rukmini consort (Sonali Kulkarni), which directs a secret illegal business of Hooch and has the entire community that accumulates under Your debt. Even when they are banished from the region by law, their business, now managed by Rukmani’s sister, Samindri, continues without problems. Meanwhile, the couple is working on a request to claim their home.
Throughout the next seven episodes, as the investigation continues, we attend with frequent setbacks of previous murders. And as more murders occur, the case becomes a tangle of old cables and new suspects. The issues of poverty, illiteracy and addiction are also mentioned while maintaining the main approach in occultism.
The crime thriller portrays the issue with the care and sensitivity it deserves. His representation without filter of murders and pedophilia is the tab and disturbing, but rarely free. The program manages to explore the fragility and vulnerability of the human mind, easily manipulated and pushed into the dark corners. It is terrifying to see how trivial and indispensable could be human life for those who follow the flock blindly.
Ashutosh Gowariker plays Police officer Ramakant Kulkarni, who is inspecting the case of hidden murders in Manvat
Sonali Kulkarni, in particular, has done an exceptional job by portraying this shameless faith in an immoral cause. Here, she plays an infertile woman, ready to go anywhere to support a child. Your person is powerful and dark, and it will bother you every time you are on the screen. In a particularly heartbreaking scene in the third episode, he cries in front of a lamp under the sacred fig tree for being sterile. Kulkarni has a respectable body of work behind her, and her interpretation of Rukmini sits among them as one of her best so far.
It is also excellent here, Sai Tamhankar, who plays Rukmini’s sister. She brings an intimidating aura to each scene in which she is. This was the first time I had the opportunity to see his work, and now I am anxious to see more of her in the future.
Manvat Murders is also filmed and edited in a way that aggravates the horror of the events that are developed before you. The scenes of everyday life are portrayed in an impressive way, also, bringing a living rhythm to the people and its people. Visually, the program can often evoke a quiet serenity, despite the fact that macabre events are developed in the background. Some of the Marcos (Satyaret Shobha Shiram handle cinematography in the program), such as those who have the Villa de Utamrao in the focus, are so beautifully filmed that they give the impression of a vibrant painting. Director Ashish Avinash Bende has wisely abandoned the overexploited romantization of the landscape in favor of a more authentic representation of the rural area of Maharashtra, without compromising its cultural attraction.
The series is available to transmit in Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengalí
In the research rooms, the colors of the character’s sets are synchronized with the walls, and the color tones are aligned with the mood of the scene. It is these small technical details that ironically add poetic value to the scenes.
But while it stands out in recreating a stage, the story of Manvat Murders suffers from an impulse, despite the actions full of power. I understand the intention of the series to attract a contrast between the intense hidden and simple reason, but the approach ends up becoming an obstacle to narration. The episodic mystery really did not hook me, and I rarely found it hurt in advance of what is to come. Although the program is based on a true incident and it is not exactly an innovative concept (it occurs weeks after the Netflix 36 cinematographic sector, based on NOIDS 2006 serial murders), it could have avoided being predictable. You really do not need to find the case of real life to measure where the show is going. Since the horrible case is not part of the national consciousness, not everyone could be aware of the events that occurred. But Manvat’s murders lose the opportunity to tell the story again for those who could be new in the nightmare.
Despite their deficiencies, Manvat’s murders are still a capable thriller and an ideal exit point for the true crime nuts to deepen the horrible events that took place decades ago. It is a good adaptation that remains faithful to its source material and gives the facts directly, without dramatizing or pacifying them in the name of creative freedom.
Although he will not keep you exactly alert in advance, he compensates with his chilling representation of sacrifice murders that shook the lives and times of a small town in Maharashtra. And his outstanding actions are enough to take it to the end. Manvat’s murders raise important questions about faith and the serious consequences of superstition without control. But those questions rarely lead to deeper introspection.
Qualification: 6.5/10
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