‘Kishkindha Kaandam’ Movie Ending Explained And Recap: Did Appu Pillai Kill Chachu?

Kishkindha Kaandam, as the title of the movie suggests, is a chapter in the Indian epic, Ramayana, in which Ram meets with Sugreev and Hanuman in the forest. As the story suggests, Ram would help Sugreev kill his brother Bali, and in return, the monkey king would offer Hanuman and his army to help Ram look for Sita. Using the dense forest in mythology as a reference, Kishkindha Kaandam tells the unusual story of a father and son maneuvering their way through life. The article below will explain how the disappearance of one item could snowball into something huge.

Spoilers Ahead

Why were the police at Ajay Chandran’s home?

Kishkindha Kaandam began with Ajay Chandran and Aparna having a simple court marriage. Ajay Chandran worked at the forest department and Aparna had quit her job to be with her husband. Ajay used to live with his ex-military father, Appu Pillai, in a large mansion surrounded by lush green forests. Aparna was fascinated by the greenery around her and was looking forward to her life in this place. On the day of the wedding, Appu Pillai was supposed to submit his licensed gun because of the upcoming elections. However, he claimed that he’d misplaced the gun somehow and it could not be found anywhere in the house. It was assumed that a monkey from the forest surrounding their house may have stolen the gun from Ajay’s home.

What was the relationship between Appu Pillai and Ajay Chandran like?

Appu Pillai had a strained relationship with his younger son, Ajay Chandran, who stayed with his father in the house. Ajay’s older brother had moved out many years ago because he could not tolerate his father’s OCD-like behavior. Ajay, on the other hand, had gotten used to his father’s daily routine, and he always stood by Appu Pillai’s side, especially when the police got involved regarding the case of the missing gun. Appu Pillai was particular about who entered his room, as he had many keys for many drawers and storage spaces. Aparna tried to understand her father-in-law’s routine, but Ajay politely asked her not to try to get in his father’s way. The film also revealed that Ajay Chandran had a son named Chachu from his first marriage, who’d disappeared three years ago. His first wife was suffering from cancer, and soon succumbed to the disease as well. Chachu had not been found yet, and Ajay hoped to get some closure on that matter. 

Did Appu Pillai have dementia?

As the days went by, Aparna noticed her father-in-law carrying a carton full of papers and burning it in the middle of the night. When she informed Ajay and his police officer relative, Sivadasan, of the same, they quickly searched the property but couldn’t find anything suspicious, especially where Aparna’s father-in-law had burned the papers. None of them bothered to ask Appu Pillai about it, as he would respond very harshly. A while later at night, Appu Pillai called Ajay, stating the car was not starting. He wanted Ajay to start the vehicle and bring him home. This incident led to Aparna joining the dots, as she said she’d found something odd about her father-in-law interacting with his old army colleagues and writing notes in a small book. On questioning Ajay, he reveals his son Chachu was the first person to notice his grandfather was forgetting things and spent most of the time wandering. On digging further with his father’s old colleagues, he revealed his father had been fired from the army because his dementia was getting worse, and as a result, it was affecting his work. Appu Pillai was ashamed of the diagnosis and refused to get any treatment. 

Whose body was found on the next-door property?

Aparna and Ajay one day noticed a commotion outside their home only to find the forest department and police team at the scene of a crime where the remains of a living being had been found. After thorough investigation and tests, the bones happened to be of a monkey, but there was a bullet wound found on it, which could have been inflicted by the pistol that Appu Pillai owned. Since the pistol was missing, the police and the forest department could not confirm who’d used it to fire at the monkey. 

Why was Appu Pillai called for questioning?

After the discovery of the remains of the monkey with a bullet wound, Appu Pillai was brought in for questioning, as the police and the forest department were sure he knew something about this incident. It was also revealed that Appu Pillai was a Maoist sympathizer in the 1970s. Ajay believed the police and the forest department were trying to frame his father since they had no evidence to back their theories. The police and the forest official were confident Appu Pillai was aware of the location of the gun, and he was trying to hide something. 

Who found the gun?

Two wildlife photographers clicked a picture of a monkey holding a pistol, which looked similar to the one owned by Appu Pillai. On being questioned, Appu Pillai clarified the gun in the picture was indeed his. This confirmation was enough for the forest department and the police to file a case against Appu Pillai. 

What did Dr. Amrith Lal reveal?

Dr. Amrith Lal was a neurologist who was called in by Ajay to explain Appu Pillai’s mental health condition. Dr. Amrith Lal revealed the man had dementia, but to make his mind proactive, the doctor presented himself as an old colleague of Appu Pillai and helped him relive his old memories from his army days. This was a kind of therapy to keep Appu Pillai from losing grip over his reality. Appu Pillai was in denial about his condition, and conversing with his ‘so-called’ friend from the army helped him keep track of details, and he seemed to be asking the same questions to Amrith Lal on every visit. Appu Pillai’s mental health condition made the police and the forest department realize the arrest was impossible. The police and the forest department would be in trouble if the news of them approving a licensed gun for a man battling dementia came out. 

Why was Appu Pillai meeting Sumadathan?

Ajay and Aparna come to know Appu Pillai had been meeting his old friend Sumadathan, who was an ex-Maoist sympathizer himself. Sumadathan revealed that Appu Pillai asked him the same questions about his life and past which he found strange. As they were old friends, Sumadathan didn’t mind answering the same questions. When Chachu was alive, Sumadathan revealed he was a witness to Appu Pillai admonishing his grandson for using his gun and accidentally killing a monkey. Since Appu Pillai would be responsible for every bullet that went out of his pistol, Sumadathan helped him bury the monkey’s body. A few hours after the incident, Sumadathan said Appu Pillai behaved as if nothing had happened. This left Sumadathan astonished, but he assumed this was his way of dealing with events. 

What did Aparna find out?

Aparna had found Appu Pillai had burned yet another carton filled with papers. She tried to stop the fire but Appu Pillai manhandled her. Ajay arrived in time to separate the two. This incident happened a day before Appu Pillai was brought in by the police for questioning. In his absence, Aparna collected the burned papers to find clues to what she assumed might lead her to the reason behind Chachu’s disappearance. Aparna also found the real pistol was stored inside a cupboard, which proved Appu Pillai had lied about the weapon held by the monkey in the picture. Of the two bullets that were missing from the pistol, Aparna suspected the other one was accidentally used on Chachu. Aparna had many theories in her mind, but it ultimately came down to the basic questions: who, why, and how. 

Appu Pillai wrote on one of the semi-burnt notes that the pistol had eight bullets, and two of them were gone. She also found half-burnt papers from the VMS Hospital where Ajay’s first wife was being treated. Appu was of the belief that her father-in-law was connected to the night Chachu disappeared, and since he has dementia, there was a possibility that he could not remember what happened to his grandson. This was an intelligent conclusion, as many events that have happened ever since her marriage to Ajay drew her to this theory. She mentioned this to Ajay, but he shrugged it off as he could not put his father through that kind of trauma, keeping in mind his current mental health condition. Ajay empathizes with his father’s need to hide his dementia from the world.

Aparna, however, wanted answers as she wanted to get to the bottom of the matter. She felt Ajay and her father-in-law were not making her feel like a part of the family. She empathized with Ajay for the tragedy he’d faced twice in his life, and finding answers would let him peacefully sleep at night. Aparna was chided for entering Appu Pillai’s room. She knew she would get more details from his room and took the risk of going through his research to find out who killed Chachu.

Did Appu Pillai kill Chachu?

A distressed Ajay revealed that his father had also been looking for answers all these years and he had not been able to find any. The sudden disappearance of the dementia-ridden old man’s grandson caused him distress, and made him wonder if he may have accidentally killed Chachu. This was the reason Ajay refused to have an argument or be the reason for the friction between him and his father. He knew his father was up to something but did not want to stop him yet. Aparna concluded Appu Pillai may have solved the mystery by pointing out that Ajay and his wife returned home from the hospital on March 19, while they filed a missing complaint the next day. She was sure there was a crucial piece of information that Ajay was not sharing with her, and she badgered him to reveal the truth behind Chachu’s disappearance.

Ajay revealed that he came back home in the evening on the 19th to find his son had been shot by his wife. She’d accidentally shot him when she was trying to take the pistol away. Ajay noticed his father was back home but he hadn’t noticed anything fishy transpiring inside the home. Ajay’s wife attempted to commit suicide as a result, and he had to rush her to the hospital. Ajay could not lose two people he loved in one night, which was why he chose to rescue his wife, who was still clinging to her life. The plot hole here is that the gunshot was not heard by anyone nearby, which was bizarre as the house was surrounded by a silent forest. Someone from the neighborhood should have heard the pistol going off and complained to the authorities, but that did not happen. 

Ajay came back home to find Chachu’s body gone, and the room where the murder happened was clean. It was easy to conclude his father was responsible for the disappearance of the body. Ajay was forever indebted to his father for saving him and his wife from time in jail for a crime that accidentally happened. This was the reason why Ajay was willing to put up with his father’s eccentricities. This tale was an embodiment of truth being stranger than fiction. Aparna was dumbfounded to find out she was now party to the crime as well because Ajay trusted her enough to share this dark secret of his family. Aparna, who claimed she wanted to be felt needed in the household, chose to keep the secret to herself till her last breath. 

Ajay revealed that his father has never revealed the place where Chachu was buried. It could be because the man himself does not remember it anymore. Since then, he goes on asking questions and collecting details about his grandson’s disappearance, hoping to find out what happened to Chachu. Ajay, over the time since Chachu’s death, saw his father burning up papers in a carton on the same spot. As Ajay hugged his father out of pain and despair, his father said not having memories was like freedom to him as his mind automatically deletes moments that were distressing. Appu Pillai having dementia worked in favor of Ajay as none of them would be implicated. However, Appu Pillai went on a loop to find out where Chachu was and if he had been killed.

Appu Pillai lied that the pistol held by a monkey in the picture was his. As mentioned above, the police could never file a case against the patriarch. The media and the higher authorities would have a field day with questions on learning how a mentally unstable man was given a licensed gun. This detail protected him and his family from some jail time. Since his memory was selective, he cannot be a reliable suspect in any case going forward. Ajay was forever protected by his father. Chachu’s body was not found, but it could be assumed Appu Pillai buried the kid on the spot where he burned all the case-related papers repeatedly.  The loop of Appu Pillai would not stop, and Ajay’s pretense he was in search of his son Chachu would also not cease, and this time he has Aparna by his side, guarding his secret.