Small-town murder mysteries are always intriguing. Be it in novel, cinematic, or television serial format. It is hard to get your eyes and mind away from small-town stories where one thinks everybody knows everyone, but the truth is exactly the opposite. When a murder happens in a small town, there are always the usual suspects that are gathered, but, in the end, it is always the unexpected ones who end up being the culprit. Pushkar-Gayathri has had a stellar year. In June, they gave us the fantastic “Suzhal: The Vortex,” and “Vikram Vedha,” the Hindi remake of their successful Tamil film, was a hit, and now with “Vadhandhi,” they are the creative producers of a murder mystery crime thriller, a whodunnit set in a town in Tamil Nadu. Written and directed by Andrew Louis, “Vadhandhi,” which means “rumors,” is about a young woman in her late teens who is found murdered in the sleepy coastal town of Kanyakumari. The investigation and unearthing of several unspeakable truths form the length and breadth of “Vadhandi: The Fable of Velonie.” Are the investigating officers able to catch hold of the killer?
Spoilers Ahead
‘Vadhandhi: The Fable Of Velonie’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Series?
“Vadhandi” begins with a film crew heading towards a location to begin shooting for the day. As they reach the spot, they see a body that the director mistakes for a dummy made for the film and appreciate its authenticity. Within minutes they realize it is not a dummy but a dead body. The crew mistakes it for the body of their leading lady, who has been gone from the hotel since the previous night. The police and the crew conclude that it is the actress who has been murdered. The police start investigating. To everyone’s horror, the actress calls up the director to tell him she escaped for a few days to stay away from the creepy producer. The police again are at a dead end to find out whose dead body it is. From a local named Edward, they find out that the body is that of Velonie, the daughter of a lodge owner named Ruby in the same town. Ruby, Velonie’s mother, and Vignesh, Velonie’s fiancé, are questioned. The police ask Ruby why she didn’t file a missing person complaint in the last three days. Ruby and Vignesh convey an incident in the past when Velonie had run away from home and came back soon. Hoping she would also come back again like the last time, they did not file any formal complaints. The case is handed over to Kanyakumari Station SI Vivek, and thus the investigation begins. Velonie’s mother, Ruby, is a highly protective mother, which the audience comes to know from several flashback sequences. Ruby and Velonie are anglo Indians and devout Christians, and Ruby makes sure to always keep her daughter in check. Ruby, being born and raised in a strict Catholic environment, makes sure Velonie does not go astray due to her life choices. It is implied that Velonie is a pretty woman who has many admirers in the town. All of them believe her to be out of character, for she speaks to men very openly. The tone in which men talk of her strangely comes across as suggesting that Velonie somehow deserved to die because she was not a girl of good character. This is the reason Ruby is overtly strict with her daughter, for she does not want the town to think badly of her, make judgments, and pass comments on her nature. Ruby wanted to protect her daughter from the unwanted attention, gaze, and harassment Velonie could face.
The cops round up their usual bunch of suspects. The first suspect is Vignesh, Velonie’s jealous fiancé, whom she hated from the core for her mother forcing her to commit to him. Vignesh, though, repeatedly says he truly loved Velonie and did not kill her despite his jealous tendencies. As per the investigation, Velonie was headed to her aunt’s home, and she had asked Vignesh to pick her up from her aunt’s place. The aunt claims Velonie would have called her before coming to meet her. This makes the cops wonder: if Velonie was not headed to meet her aunt, why would she ask Vignesh to pick her up from her aunt’s place? This inconsistency makes the local town of Si Ramar think Vignesh might be the killer. After a long interrogation with no evidence to back their claims, Vignesh is let go by the police. The investigation’s lead officer, S.I. Vivek, is intrigued by this and wants to dive deeper into the nitty-gritty of the lodge, which was run by Ruby. Vivek is somehow drawn to this case and wants to know if Velonie is indeed a flirt or just another beautiful young woman who, sadly, had no control over the fact that men found her attractive. Vivek emotionally attaches himself to the case to get more answers on what led to her murder. The coroner tip Vivek and his team of other possible suspects, brothers Santosh, Sanjeev, and Sunny. He suspects they might have murdered Velonie. The three of them are arrested, but orders from Vivek’s superior force them to bail the brothers out. It turns out they are a local minister’s supplier of rare animal meats, which are illegal to consume in India. Vivek again reaches a dead end with this lead and is frustrated at this point as to what direction to look in. His personal life also starts to spiral due to his involvement in this case. Vivek becomes too involved in this case and cannot come to terms with the fact that this case might not get solved after all. Vignesh one day gets drunk and ends up killing himself over the fact that he loved Velonie too much and could not bear the thought of living his life without her around. The police conclude that Vignesh was the killer who killed himself out of guilt. The police had been under tremendous pressure, especially S.I. Vivek and Ramar, to find the culprit. Vignesh’s suicide makes it easy for Vivek’s superiors to conclude that he was Velonie’s murderer, and there is no further discussion on that. Vivek, though, finds Vignesh’s suicide note, in which he begs the police to find her killer, which is proof of him not being Velonie’s killer. But Vivek’s superiors are hell-bent on the fact that the case is now closed and cannot be bothered with, and Vignesh’s suicide note is burned to ashes. Vivek is disturbed by the fact that Vignesh’s suicide is being used to further character-assassinate Velonie. It is implied that his suspicions and jealousy were because of Velonie’s “promiscuous” nature, which led Vignesh to kill her. Vivek can’t fathom the fact that the case is closed because the killer is still at large, roaming free.
Meanwhile, K.I. Sebastian, a renowned author who stayed at Ruby’s lodge to write a book, had formed a friendship with Velonie. As the series progresses, the audience is made to suspect him also as the killer, for one of the eyewitnesses claims to have seen Velonie with an older gentleman on the day she died on the foothills of Ottaparai, a village near Velonie’s hometown. Sebastian forms an unusual bond with her, and Velonie realizes she can open up about herself and her struggles. Since she never had a father from the age of six, she considers Sebastian as a father figure she did not have growing up. Sebastian, being an understanding man, does not take advantage of her emotions and becomes a shoulder for her to cry on and an ardent listener to the problems she faces because of her mother. KI Sebastian requests that his publisher let him know the progress of the investigation into Velonie’s murder. The media, though, leave no stone unturned when it comes to character assassinating Velonie. The police and Velonie’s family are disgusted with how this story is being covered, but they can’t do anything to stop the blatant lies being told just for the sake of newspaper circulation and better ratings for their channels.
‘Vadhandhi: The Fable Of Velonie’ Ending Explained – How Is Vivek Finally Able To Nab Velonie’s Killer?
Vivek cannot come to terms with the fact that Vignesh is not the killer, but his superiors are more concerned about closing the case as soon as possible. A year has passed since Velonie’s murder case was closed, and Vivek is still tormented by the fact that they could not catch the real killer. He feels a sense of responsibility towards Velonie, who was killed mercilessly. Vivek becomes too attached to the case even a year after its closure and is trying hard for him to forget about it. Vivek is haunted by the fact that people would think of Velonie as a woman with multiple partners who was killed by her fiancé. The thought of judging a woman by what they have heard is a staple in our society, and Vivek is disgusted by that fact. His wife, though, supports his viewpoint, but he is unable to convince his superiors to reopen the case.
Vivek soon takes it upon himself to solve the case without his superiors knowing, conducting a clandestine investigation along with S.I. Ramar to further make a list of suspects who would have the motive to kill Velonie. Vivek winds up deciding on Santhosh, Sanjeevan, and Sunny as suspects, for they won’t allow their mother, an eyewitness, to testify or identify the suspect. Vivek and Ramar start wondering if they had anything to do with her murder. As they go hunting, their mother requests that her helper call Vivek and Ramar to come by because she wants to confess. The mother confessed to the fact that Velonie came by their home and agreed to be a prostitute for the ring run by the brothers. But she was killed by Valan for resisting him. Valan is a rowdy who has brutally raped multiple prostitutes provided by Santhosh, Sanjeevan, and Sunny. Their mother is wracked with guilt over her complicity in Velonie’s murder, and she decides to confess. Unfortunately for Vivek, her confession was not recorded, and soon the mother died in her sleep. Vivek decides to go against his superiors and catch the hunter brothers. Using the forest ranger’s help, they are caught. But Sanjeevan, Santhosh, and Sunny claim that their mother suffered a head injury that made her mix up a lot of memories. The woman who came by their home was not Velonie but another girl from a poor family. They acknowledged the existence of Valan, who is a serial rapist, as per police records. Vivek, though, knows he is putting his career in jeopardy, so he decides to pursue Valan. Vivek is hell-bent on pursuing this lead, for he is stubborn as a mule to find the killer. After a strenuous search, Valan’s family claims that they have not seen their son in the last two years, which rouses suspicion in Vivek. Vivek finally learns from Sunny that Valan was buried by them after he complained of being bitten by a snake. They always wanted to kill him but had no strength to face him. The snake bite came as a blessing in disguise, which made it easy for them to bury him in the forest. The hunter brothers come from a family of serial rapists and land grabbers who initially think they will be saved by ministers who took them under their wings but sadly, their charges are too severe to be ignored by authorities.
KI Sebastian, to reinstate Velonie as a victim, writes and publishes a book in which he talks in detail about how her life has been since she turned 18. She was a victim of emotional and sexual abuse and was constantly neglected by her mother. Ruby’s mother found reasons to slut-shame her regularly, which affected her relationship with her. Her life and relationships are described in detail by the author, which makes Vivek suspect Sebastian. He wonders if whatever Sebastian wrote was imaginary or if it actually happened to Velonie. He confronts Sebastian, who, under pressure, confesses that a lot of the material in his book is imaginary. Vivek can’t seem to get a grip on the fact that Valan has some connection with Velonie’s murder, and he is unable to crack the last 2%, which is crucial. Soon he realizes Velonie’s mother lied about Velonie speaking to a man outside the church on a date. Vivek confirms with the Priest of the church that there was no sermon on the said date. Vivek starts interrogating Ruby and is sure that it was Ruby who murdered her daughter. Vivek also finds Velonie’s suicide note she wrote before leaving her home but comes back for it as she decides not to kill herself. Out of shame, Ruby slits her throat but survives the suicide attempt. On reading her FIR report of the suicide attempt, he comes across a name: Jones Dorai, who is Ruby’s helper at the lodge. Ruby and Jones had an affair from which she got pregnant. She aborted the child but also ceased her affair with him. Jones is enraged by the fact that Ruby is constantly worrying about Velonie, and out of his love for Ruby, he hires his brother Valan to kill Velonie. As Valan kills Velonie, he is bitten by a snake, to which he succumbs in front of the hunter brothers. Vivek is finally at peace, for he feels he has provided justice to Velonie, but on the other hand, he knows the media will rip Ruby apart, for Jones’s killing of Velonie is a crime of passion in a sense. Vivek does not feel right that society too easily judges women for what they do in their private sphere. He and Ramar make sure that they won’t play any role in shaming Ruby, for she was always kept in the dark about Jones’s intentions. Vivek, though, vows that women in his life will be allowed to be themselves and protect them at any cost.
Was Velonie Herself To Be Blamed For Her Death?
Velonie, from a young age, was exposed to tragedy, which she was never allowed to process. Losing a parent at a young age, such as hers, leaves a deep impact. Sadly, she was also sexually abused by a family member, which her mother never helped her recover from. Her mother always blamed her for what went wrong. Again, this was a trauma, and she was not allowed to process it her way. This is when she starts questioning her self-worth, for Ruby always blamed Velonie if any boy or a man spoke to her. Velonie starts doubting if she is the reason behind anything that goes wrong. Velonie starts hurting herself in that spiraling phase. Velonie’s mother always made it clear that if anything went wrong in her life, Velonie was to be blamed, and no boy/man would be blamed for it. Spotting blood on her school dress makes Ruby lose her mind. Ruby, being herself, starts shaming her daughter, which is the last straw for Velonie. Velonie considered suicide after her mother blamed her for something she did not do. Velonie was a disturbed child who deserved to know a lot about the things happening around her, especially in her mother’s life. Her life was snatched away from her in her prime. Velonie deserved to be treated the right way by the right people, like KI Sebastian, who understood her state of mind and empathized with her. He was the only person she opened up to about her life so far and her differences with her mother. Velonie is not to blame for her untimely death. As a young teen, she gave everything to be a perfect daughter to her mother, but somehow it wasn’t enough for Ruby to understand. Ruby failed to understand that it wasn’t Velonie’s fault that she was pretty or that she got abused by a trusted family member. Velonie sadly became a victim of systematic patriarchy.
Final Thoughts
Though writer-director Andrew Louis intended to talk about how women are prime targets of rumors and judgments more than men, to prove this point, Andrew took his own sweet time, which slowed down the narrative of the show. “Vadhandi: The Fable of Velonie” was only eight episodes long but was stretched out and overtly analyzed situations that had no role in the conclusion. Andrew could have cut down plenty of subplots, which would have made the show tighter and juicier. For a whodunnit murder mystery, the audience will lose patience and interest in knowing who the murderer is because it seems to take forever for the screenplay to reach the climax. Each episode could have been at least 20 minutes shorter to get a grip on the narrative. The goal of the screenplay is to find out who the murderer is, but unfortunately, Andrew spent a lot of time establishing subplots that did not make sense. “Vadhandhi” would have been an interesting watch if only the screenplay was not so broad and confusing. The performances also bring down the overall pacing of the show, as most of them do not deliver as expected. Laila is abysmal as Ruby, the mother; SJ Suryah is bearable as Vivek. Only Sanjana as Velonie and Nasser as KI Sebastian kept the show interesting enough till the end. Watch “Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie” if only you have the patience and time to sit through a painfully long show.
“Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie” is a Tamil-language Amazon Original miniseries, now streaming on the platform with subtitles.
