Murder Mubarak has Homi Adajania back on his home ground as he gives the audience an interesting whodunnit featuring the elite class of Delhi, who remain delusional about everything that is outside of their territory. They are surrounded by an army of helpers and choose to remain oblivious to the life they lead and are concerned only about status, acceptance, and money. All of the themes are explored and eventually offer up the answers the investigation officer is looking for.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Found Leo Mathews Dead In The Gym?
Leo Mathews was the Zumba trainer and an employee at the Royal Delhi Club gym. He was found dead by Bambi, Roshni Batra, and Cookie Katoch around the gym equipment. The death of this man did not send any shock waves around the club, as most members were quick to go back to their normal lives and pretended as if nothing had happened. ACP Bhavani Singh, the police officer to whom the case was assigned, was quick to rule out accidental death and treat the case as a murder because of the strategic placement of balloons around the CCTV cameras in the gym. The women who found Leo dead were considered useless in the beginning, as they did not have much to offer in terms of information. Of all three, only Bambi Todi seemed a sensible woman.
What Happened On The Night Of Tambola?
On the night of Tambola, as described by Roshni and Bambi, Rannvijay, the royal, had an altercation with Leo Mathews over a game of housie. The altercation between the two escalated into a full-fledged fight between everyone in the room, including Akash Dogra, who claimed himself to be Leo’s lawyer in an old case in regard to drug supply that involved minors. The scuffle that followed was seen as a motive for the killing of Leo Mathews. ACP Bhavani Singh and SI Padam Kumar were determined to find the culprit.
What Information Did The Police Receive From The Orphanage?
Bambi confessed to Akash that Leo Mathews was blackmailing her, as he had some information about her drug abuse and kleptomania. Akash made her divulge the same information to Bhavani Singh in the hope that this information would help the investigation. Leo had asked for a huge sum from Bambi to be donated to a particular orphanage. Investigation of the financial influx into the orphanage led Bhavani to know several members of the club had donated a good amount as well. Leo forcing certain members of the club to donate a handsome amount was an easy catch in return for his silence about the information he was in possession of about them. Bhavani received his first major lead in the investigation, and Leo’s blackmailing established the motive.
Who Were The Usual Suspects?
Rannvijay, Shehnaz, and Roshni were the main suspects because they were the richest members of the club. Rannvijay’s kingly lifestyle, Shehnaz’s high-flying career as a film star, and Roshni’s money from her husband made them easy targets for Leo to obtain money. Even though they admitted having donated willingly to the orphanage, their memory of writing off checks gives away a different story about them. Bhavani was under the impression he was close to nabbing the culprit using this motive, and it would close the case sooner than expected. Shehnaz and Rannvijay were top-tier suspects as they were fighting against each other for the post of club presidency. Both had hoped mudslinging and allegations would work in their respective favors in the upcoming election.
What Was The Relationship Between Bambi And Akash?
Bambi and Akash have been close friends since childhood. Both were in love as well, but it took a while for them to realize and act on it. Bambi was from an uber-rich family, while Akash was from a middle-class one. Akash saved her from many awkward situations owing to her kleptomaniac tendencies. Bambi was a widow and was emotionally stunted because of her distant parents. She found a shoulder to cry on with Akash after many years.
Akash was aware Bambi would never want him the way he longed for her. Both began their parallel investigations into Pinko Hathni, a drug whose traces were found in Leo’s system during the autopsy while the bottle he drank from was merely a protein shake. This information led them to Yash Batra, who was putting up a façade about having been sober for three months, while the reality was the exact opposite. The investigation into Pinko Hathni also led them to Bambi’s maid Ganga’s husband Ajay Kumar. Their investigation proves Ajay Kumar was a Pinko Hathni dealer who had disappeared three years ago. Following this, Bambi offered Ganga a job at the salon in the club.
Whose Body Was Found In The Club Garden?
ACP Bhavani’s investigation had led nowhere until he found Guppie Sharma’s behavior odd, as the old man overwatered the beetroot plants in the garden. This made him and his team dig the ground and find male skeletal remains. Guppie Sharma had poured acid laced with vinegar and coffee to make sure the body beneath the surface slowly dissolved. Everyone presumed the body may have belonged to Ajay Kumar, Ganga’s husband, who was probably killed and buried. This made ACP Bhavani question Rannvijay, who was close to Ganga, on the suspicion Leo may have found some information about both leading to the trainer’s death. Sadly, Guppie Sharma was found dead after he used Rannvijay’s flare gun to kill himself. The flare gun was always kept at the club. Guppie Sharma’s death was termed a suicide, but not before his gibberish talk a few days before about having helped someone caught Bhavani’s attention, and this further raised questions about Rannvijay.Â
What Was Rannvijay’s Secret?
On confronting the royal, Bhavani was shocked to come across a man who lived like a pauper while he put up a show of being rich and expected to be treated with respect because of the hierarchy in society. Rannvijay was living in his dilapidated home and was barely making money. Along with his poverty, Rannvijay was quick to admit Leo Mathews was aware of his actual sexuality.
Rannvijay was in a relationship with the club trainer, Thinsuk, and wanted to keep this information to himself because it would be an embarrassment to him and his partner. ACP Bhavani asked for a meeting at the club and invited everyone whom he suspected to reveal his findings from the investigation. There was an air of worry, and people were worried about who the killer could be. Bhavani could not find any proof against Rannvijay that would link him to Leo’s murder and Ajay Kumar’s disappearance. This also allowed Rannvijay to come out in the open about his relationship with Thinsuk without worrying about the club members or society in general.
Did Shehnaz Noorani Have A Child Out Of Wedlock?
Shehnaz Noorani was emotional about having been through a troublesome pregnancy at a very young age, which made it easy for ACP Bhavani to connect the dots. He was quick to conclude she had had an illegitimate child out of wedlock in her teens, and the child was taken away and raised in the same orphanage as Leo Mathews.
Shehnaz Noorani was being blackmailed by Leo Mathews regarding this information. She finally chose to tell her daughters about it and revealed that Rakesh, Leo’s best friend from the orphanage, was the child she had had to give away. The mother and son have a moment with each other at the club. Shehnaz had a motive, but she was glad to be in touch with her long-lost son. Accepting him was her victory and proof of her innocence.
Was Anshul Murdered?
The meeting at the club turned towards Akash Dogra, and ACP Bhavani found a lot of footage of these members on the iPad, which belonged to Leo Mathews. He recorded this footage in the hope of using any information against them for money. One of his videos accidentally had Akash returning to Anshul and Bambi’s anniversary party.
Akash was heartbroken over losing the love of her life, and this footage proved he came back to kill Anshul using a bust that was made by Cookie Katoch for his family. Akash was willing to take the blame in the hope that Bambi would love him more. Akash was arrested for Anshul’s murder, and it was his skeletal remains that were found in the club’s kitchen garden. Further revelations involving Yash Batra proved that he overdosed on Pinko Hathni and tried to kill himself by drowning in the bathtub. Yash’s suicide attempt became a murder charge on Akash Dogra.
Akash’s arrest forced Bambi to clarify her role in Anshul’s death. She confessed to having married him for money and status, as she was raised and surrounded by nothing but luxury. Akash’s love did not matter to her if she could be financially secure being married to Anshul. She caught Anshul having an affair with Ganga and planned to leave Bambi for the maid, which made her livid. She could not convince Anshul to carry on the affair while remaining married to her for the sake of society.
Bambi’s life circled around not wanting to be a divorcee living off alimony. She could not stand to be in the same club and have Ganga as a member as well. Ganga belonged to a different class altogether and her husband choosing his mistress over his wife made her kill him out of rage with the bust made by Cookie Katoch.
Akash’s grandmother had given away the same bust to Bambi as a gift, and the young woman used the same to kill her husband and took Guppie’s help to bury the body in the club gardens. The official news of his death had him and his friends die in a bus accident on their way to the holiday with his friends. Bambi could not have lived with the embarrassment of Anshul leaving a rich woman for someone like Ganga.
Who Killed Leo Mathews?
Guppie and Leo were close friends, and the former probably became closer to the old man to get enough information about the members. Bambi lied about why Leo was blackmailing her. She created a narrative to suit herself and stayed close to the case ACP Bhavani was investigating, hoping she would be able to mislead him and his team. Since Leo was aware of her role in Anshul’s death and pouring acid over the garden, she took it upon herself to close all the loose ends to end the trainer’s menace. Bambi was the one who added Pinko Hathi to his drink and changed the water bottle at the scene of the crime. She was the one responsible for Guppie and his cat’s deaths as well. She planted the same drug in Yash’s room and staged an overdose in the hope he would die. Bambi planted a suicide note to further mislead ACP Bhavani and everyone close to Yash.
Bambi claimed she found solace in murder because it ended all her problems. This indicates Bambi probably has some psychological issues as well, which made her want to go on a killing spree in the club without having been noticed by anyone. Bambi’s confession of killing Leo was enough for Bhavani to form a case against her. Bambi killed Leo because she wanted to stay away from the embarrassment of going to jail and not cause harm to her parents. She also confessed to her crime because she never wanted Akash to bear the burden of the mistakes she made and make the ultimate sacrifice. Going to jail and owning up to her mistakes was her way of confessing her love to him and indicating she needed to clean up her mess.
Murder Mubarak ends with Bambi in prison with Akash Dogra as her lawyer. ACP Bhavani reminded him to not spend time-fighting for Bambi as there was no point in being in love with a woman who was mentally not in a good space. Akash nevertheless fought for her and remained in the hope she would be out in no time.
