While Killer Soup follows the story of Swathi, a woman who wants to start her own restaurant, I believe there are many parallels between her and Appu’s story. Yes, it’s a murder mystery where a dozen people die all around Swathi, seemingly just by existing near her. It’s also about her passionate ambition to open this restaurant that she’s been dreaming of for years. In an ideal world, by the time we get to the timeline of the show, Swathi should’ve been well into running her restaurant, seeing as she had been married for 20 years and her husband is the reason she’s come into money and luxury. While he claims he’s given her everything she’s ever wanted, he’s never bothered helping her achieve her biggest dream (waste fellow). Now Appu is Arvind’s daughter. We can assume she’s at least 25 years younger than Swathi, who has an 18-year-old son herself. Appu’s been brought up by her father and her uncle Lucas (just by name) as her mother died in childbirth. What I find interesting is that Appu and Swathi may be apart by age, but they’re the same in oppression. They’ve both got big dreams, but the men in their lives control these dreams, which is why they come together and go as far as to commit a crime together because they’re so desperate.
Appu’s relationship with her father is not the best. There are hints that Arvind really cares for her, sure. However, he’s more bothered about his own happiness than hers (tell us something new), making her sad and lonely. I suppose if her mother was around, there would’ve been a good balance, so Appu would truly have been happy. Appu’s a creative young person who wants to go to an art school in Paris. She’s obviously different from the rest of her family, which in my opinion is fantastic; however, it’s a real nightmare for her father. What makes it worse is that he doesn’t know how to actually talk to her about it. He simply yells and expects her to understand where he’s coming from. It’s not like they can’t afford the fancy school abroad either. One could say it’s undetermined why Arvind brought Appu up as his own when she was actually Lucas’ daughter; however, the reasons are very clear. First, he would’ve been ashamed, because it would’ve been terrible for his reputation if all of Mainjur found out that his wife had slept with the low-life bodyguard. Soon though, seeing Appu grow into her mother’s features, he realized she’s a memory of a good thing and really loved her. I suppose this is where the problem begins, because if her mother made such a blunder, there’s no way Arvind can trust her daughter not to turn out to be a delinquent either.
This is why Appu has a better relationship with her biological father without knowing it. Lucas stayed on with Appu, despite what he had done (not sure how Arvind forgave this), and protected her. He’s the father she would probably dream of having, and after Arvind’s death, this would unknowingly become her reality. Appu never hated Arvind; she only ever wanted to exercise her own rights. Appu definitely had the talent to be a part of Rising Sun, Arvind’s company, but she never wanted it. Arvind’s reaction to her “naked” art is naturally anger because, of course, human anatomy equals sexual connotations for a man who parties with Russian girls in abandoned buildings. There was no way he was ever going to have a regular conversation with Appu about this, so Appu was left with no choice but to use whatever brain power she could to make things work out for herself. She uses her time at her father’s company (which she’s forced into) to learn about the accounts and how Prabhu has been stealing from the company for all this time. She uses this knowledge to ask Swathi questions to make sure she’s not hurting them financially; however, Swathi also doesn’t know that Prabhu is actually bankrupt.
Since we’ve already established that Swathi and Appu are two sides of the same coin, it doesn’t take Swathi long to realize that Appu is the blackmailer. At first, she’s shocked that the girl that she’s basically treated like her own child could treat her this way; however, it’s probably the female instinct in her that somewhat understands Appu’s feelings. Additionally, it is only the girl code that is really maintained on this show because Appu is the only one who delivers on her promise to Swathi, the restaurant. Appu and Swathi come up with the plan to blackmail Arvind instead of Prabhu since everyone knows he has more than enough money. However, they get caught rather easily; somehow, Arvind has a functioning brain when it comes to these things. Appu would rather not end up like her aunt Swathi, who waited patiently for years only to be stepped on. Appu picks up the gun and decides she would rather die than not get what she wanted (feel you, girl), which is when Arvind realizes how important this all is for her. After he gets shot by accident and somewhat recovers, he apologizes to Appu and tells her that it’s because she reminds him so much of her mother that he couldn’t let her go. It was his fear (lies). Ultimately, Arvind dies after speaking his piece, and Appu is left with everything he owns.
This is when Appu comes into her own and decides to take over the company for real. I suppose she could live her art dreams later on in life when she’s living by herself in her own luxury home. She’s capable of much more than her father ever was, and she even manages to get Swathi her restaurant in record time. It might seem like Appu’s final decisions are based on her emotions, but really, it’s a very calculated and selfish decision that will give her the ultimate happiness.
