Vaani Kapoor has just made her web series debut with Mandala Murders, a crime-thriller series imbued with elements of supernatural and horror, that has zoomed to the top of the Netflix charts — and remained there — since its release on July 25.
Vaani, who features in a double role in the Yash Raj Films-produced series that stars Vaibhav Raj Gupta and Surveen Chawla among others, also had a box-office hit in Raid 2 a few months ago. t2 caught up with the statuesque stunner for a chat.
What got you interested in Mandala Murders?
The fact that it is so unique and different with an exceptional set-up. Honestly, I was initially nervous because I was apprehensive about whether people would buy into this world with conviction... whether they would buy into my character, Rea Thomas. She is stoic, she is not as emotionally available as the other characters and there is a different internal graph to her. She is trauma stricken and there is a certain coldness to her.
My job was to make her believable without being flashy and that was the challenge I liked. Her sense of calm authority and emotional restraint had to be consistent throughout the eight episodes of the series. It brought in a lot of nervousness but also excitement. As an actor, within my bandwidth, I have always attempted to experiment and explore different territories. Mandala Murders is an addition to that.
It is an out-of-the-box idea for sure...
It is very fascinating! I had seen Gopi sir’s (Gopi Puthran, creator and co-director of the series) work as an audience and it was easy for me to surrender, trust his process and what he had written and how he saw Rea. He has a distinctive voice when it comes to storytelling. His stories are rooted and have relatable emotions and yet they are unpredictable. He also brings in a sense of gravitas without making it too heavy. There is something deep beneath the surface of his writing which excited me as an actor. Also, it was refreshing to work with Manan (Rawat, co-director). He had a very honest approach to the world that they were creating and it was, therefore, easy for me to surrender and trust their process.
This is a story that indulges in flights of fantasy. At any point, did you find it tough to surrender to the genre and the idea of Mandala Murders?
I went in with proper clarity, knowing that this is nothing like what I have done before. My character doesn’t rely on charm or glamour. I had not played such a guarded character before. Most of my other roles have had a certain softness to them, a romantic arc or emotional accessibility. Even in Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021), the emotional outburst (of her character Maanvi) is different from what Rea experiences. Rea is stricken by trauma, she freezes when she sees the ghosts from her past. Usually, she is unreadable and unapproachable. She is also a cop in a field of work which is very different from the usual. She is someone who doesn’t try to impress by being smug or flashy and that gave me a completely different emotional landscape to explore.
There was a lot that the character demanded — restraint, stillness and a quiet intensity which, at times, can be a difficult space to hold. As an actor, you get different arcs and layers and I always try and emote though my eyes to evoke a connection with the audience.
Are you a believer in mystical, otherworldly forces?
I believe in universal energy and spirituality. I do believe in God and in a higher power. I believe that we have frequencies to us and that we meet and and get along with like-minded people with the same frequencies. I also believe in karma.
This is your first web series and you also play a double role in it. How has this experience enriched you as an actor?
There has been some learning or the other with every film that I have done. It even comes from being on set where you are observing so many others at work and feeding off their energy and actions. Acting is not done in isolation, it takes so much of give and take for a scene to shine and for an actor to connect with the audience and evoke emotions in them.
Even with Nandini (the second character Vaani plays in Mandala Murders), the attempt was to make her different from Rea. If you watch closely, you will see wonder in Nandini’s eyes, whereas what you see in Rea is largely grief and trauma. Rea detaches in order to protect herself from the world. Nandini doesn’t do that. Nandini is science-driven, she is sharp and highly intellectual. She is not scarred. There are subtleties in both these characters — shaped by their thoughts and personal experiences — and that is what I tried to bring in to distinguish Rea from Nandini.
At the end of the day, it is a director’s medium and Mandala Murders is Gopi sir’s world. An actor can only shine as much as the director gives you wings to fly and a landscape to explore. I am excited that I got to do something new. I feel it will get better with more work, more experience and more confidence, which is imperative in this field of work.
You have always come across as someone who is pretty secure in her skin. Has this been inherent in you or has it developed over time?
I have grown into being this person. I can actually be pretty harsh on myself. But I keep it to myself... even my family is not aware of my struggles and my day-to-day challenges. I don’t like to burden them with what I am going through because we are emotionally very protective as a family unit.
Honestly, I don’t know how to be any different. Even in my interviews, I have never harped on my personal challenges... some of the biggest ones haven’t always been loud or visible... they have been more internal to me.
There have been challenges... like staying creatively fulfilled during the long gaps between my films, especially when things are unpredictable and not always in my favour.
This is an area of work that shows one dramatic highs and lows and is very volatile. There have been times when I have felt overlooked. I have had to work twice as hard just to be seen or taken seriously. See, it is not that I am not grateful. I have been grateful for every opportunity, but I have also had to make peace with those in-between spaces where self-doubt has crept in and has made me wonder if my moment will ever fully come. But those moments shape you the most when no one is watching. You still choose to show up... and that perseverance has been both my biggest challenge and my greatest teacher.
Does this kind of confidence and strength also extend to failure and being helpless in the face of circumstances? Case in point being Abir Gulaal, your film that was scheduled to release in May, now being stuck indefinitely because of political tensions...
My journey hasn’t been in rapid-fire or headline-grabbing mode. It has been slow, it has been quiet and sometimes even under the radar. Every time I have landed a film — especially opposite a massive name — the stakes have only felt heavier. When you are placed next to a movie star who is deeply loved and has an army of fans or a lot of critical acclaim — and sometimes both — you are the one with more to prove. That pressure doesn’t go away. In fact, it only intensifies when people question you and why you were cast in that role at all. For me, it has been about earning that space to be taken seriously. And I really have had to fight through that noise and the assumptions.
I have had long gaps, tough calls, times when I wasn’t even sure if I would get another shot to show what I am capable of. But as I said, I am grateful for every opportunity. I won’t change a thing. It has been my journey, and over time, I have only become hungrier. But one thing that has stayed consistent is that it has kept me grounded and true to who I am.
You spoke about keeping yourself creatively fulfilled between projects. Is there a tangible way in which you do that?
When I came into the movies, I wasn’t a dancer. I had done it at the school level, but when it came to getting choreographed by someone like Vaibhavi Merchant, who, in my eyes, is one of the finest choreographers we have in the industry, I didn’t want to let anyone down. I didn’t want them to feel: ‘Oh, we have to start from zero to get work out of someone new’. Also, action was a completely new territory for me. It can be very taxing, not only physically, but also emotionally and mentally. I have tried to explore new characters. I am aware, I am observant... I constantly learn new things to enhance my craft, some of which are also intangible. I love my craft. It is truly something I want to get better at. I am a work in progress.
My favourite Vaani Kapoor role is... Tell t2@abp.in