Shriya Pilgaonkar has spoken about playing Rukmini, the cult’s 1950s founder in Mandala Murders and said that the journey was brief but deeply fulfilling and fun as an actor.Talking to Instagram, Shriya shared a string of videos and pictures from the sets.
It also included her look test for the part and a video, where she is all dressed up in character and is heard saying: “Love the look and clearly Mahamani is a maximalist. She wakes up like this.”In one image, the actress is seen holding the script with “YRF” written on it and a text overlay read: “Reuniting with YRF after my debut film Fan was special.”
For the caption, she wrote: “Never thought I'd be playing a cult leader giving Goddess +Frida Kahlo vibes who wants to chop of thumbs. But here we are . I love my job.”She added: A few BTS glimpses from a journey that was brief but deeply fulfilling and so fun as an actor.
Exciting, beautiful, and close to my heart. Congrats to the team and thank you @gopiputhran @shanoosharmarahihai @manan.rawat and Adi sir for trusting me to unleash this wildness . And thank YOU for all the love and kind words.”Mandala Murders is a crime thriller web series created and co-directed by Gopi Puthran, alongside Manan Rawat.
The series is based on the novel The Butcher of Benaraz. Set in the fictional town of Charandaspur, Uttar Pradesh, it blends mystery, supernatural horror, and psychological thriller elements.The series follows detectives Rea Thomas and Vikram Singh as they investigate ritualistic murders linked to a secret cult, the Aayastis, and a mythical entity called Yast.
The series stars Vaani Kapoor, Vaibhav Raj Gupta, Surveen Chawla, Raghubir Yadav, and Shriya Pilgaonkar in key roles. Spanning eight episodes, it explores themes of faith vs science and love vs sacrifice, combining modern police procedural with occult practices.
Talking about Shriya’s debut film “Fan”, the film was released in 2016, an action thriller directed by Maneesh Sharma. It stars Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role as Aryan Khanna, a film star, and his obsessive fan and lookalike, Gaurav Chandna. Gaurav beats up a rival actor to appease Aryan, but is instead punished by his idol; heartbroken, the fan plans revenge.