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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Entertainment News India Times (August 9, 2025 - August 15, 2025) August 15, 2025 26 Mandala Murders Is Confused, Convoluted Yet Confident! W hen you spin a story (inspired by a novel) that is convoluted, (over-)cooked and thus con- fused as it goes along, the least one can do is to be confident—about the presentation! Mandala Murders is a perfect example of that. It mixes up a kind of horror-whodunit with an investigative thriller and a mystical cult drama that is strewn with bloody, decapitated corpses and there is a past-cum-present macabre angle about a machine (!) that cuts off the right thumb in exchange for a “miracle” (a fervent wish). But that’s not all. There is a price to be paid: a death! Mandala, we are told, refers to a ‘circle’ denoting that in life, everything is interconnected. And over here, each “piece” of this mystical circle is interpreted by a local man, Jimmy Khan (Jameel Khan), who helps two dispa- rate investigators, a cop named Rea Thomas (Vaani Ka- poor) and a suspended cop (Vaibhav Raj Gupta), both of whom have pasts of “import” here, to find out the truth. Mandala Murders is replete with mysterious and gory murders, revelations that cannot be always understood in context, the political rivalry angle between husband and a venomous wife—these roles are played by Rahul Singh and Surveen Chawla, and other sundry major and minor characters who come in and go, sometimes by being murdered! In the movies of yore, a token Muslim or Christian noble character would be there to help in the concept of National Integration. Over here, we have Jimmy Khan and also Giyasuddin Khan (Anang Desai) and Rea Thomas herself, whose grandmother is Nandini Pant, clearly a Hindu (Vaani in a dual role with a 1950s hairdo!). And then for good measure there is a foreigner named Robert (Edward Sonnenblick). But the story is all about a Hindu tale! Finally (and hopefully) the story ends with the destruc- tion of an ‘assembled” (from various human parts!!) god named Yast. The time factor and location (a fictional town named Charandaspur in Uttar Pradesh) are seemingly of little value. Ornate setups with ultra-modern electronic con- nections and lighting, machine-propelled arrows within a van, lit-up tunnels and more are seen and the story spans a full 75 years. A steep decline fromYRF’s last web masterpiece, The Railway Men, which still ranks among the all-time Top Ten series ever on Indian OTT, Mandala Murders is placid in the beginning but totally flaccid later. Being a YRF project, artistes of the caliber of Shriya Pilgaonkar, Aaditi Pohankar, Raghubir Yadav, Anang Desai, Kiran Karmarkar, Aakash Dahiya, Utkarsha Naik and Siddhanth Kapoor agree to play walk-on or minor appearances. Vaani Kapoor is good as the cop, better as the physicist. The acting honors are shared by the ever- dependable Jameel Khan, Shriya Pilgaonkar and above all, Surveen Chawla. Soft, hard, menacing, passionate— she makes her character stand out in all her shades and is a major part of the confidence that otherwise gifted writer-director Gopi Puthran (of Mardaani fame) and co- director Manan Rawat manage to show in this all style- and-no-substance avatar of Kantara! But to no avail! Rating: ** By RajivVijayakar Battery Dance Presents Free Performances In Battery Park City Parks, Including India Day On August 15 T he 44th Annual Battery Dance Festival, scheduled from August 12-16, in Rockeffeller Park, includes a whole day devoted to India, coinciding with Indian Independence Day which falls on Friday, August 15. Battery Dance celebrates the art of dance in its home community this August, in partnership with Battery Park City Authority. On Saturday, August 9, the Company celebrates the re-opening of Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, following a two-year pause during which it was rebuilt as part of a coastal resiliency effort to protect Battery Park City and lower Manhattan from storm surge and sea level rise. The main festival begins August 12. For Indians and Indian Americans in the tri-state area, between the days of August 12-16, Rockefeller Park will be rocked on August 15, with a plethora of Indian local and North American dance troupes showing off their talent. Following is the schedule for India Day – INDIA DAY – SHAKTI: DIVINE ENERGY Rajika Puri , Sutradhar (Narrator) Nandanik Dance Troupe , founded and directed in 2006 by Nandini Mandal in Pittsburgh, has trained a cadre of American-born bharatanatyam dancers and regularly presents dancers and dance companies from India. For its first performance in NewYork City, the Company presents an excerpt from a new production, Dashama- havidya, literally the 10 incarnations of the mother god- dess Shakti, created by Kolkata-based choreographer and soloist Subhajit Khush Das. Bijayini Satpathy Dance Collective is a newly formed ensemble of dancers trained by the well-known Odissi dancer Bijayini Satpathy. Two duets will be presented, choreographed by Bijayini and performed by Ariaki Dandawate and Malavika Singh, under the title of “Lasya”, “Mahamaya”, and “Lathika”, celebrating the feminine power in sensuality and might. Sonali Skandan , Bharatanatyam soloist, will present “Durga,” created in collaboration with Maya Kulkarni, to a commissioned musical score. This work is a visceral invocation of the Divine Feminine, at once serene and ferocious. Sonali has performed solo and group works in the Erasing Borders of Indian Dance in prior seasons and elsewhere on tour in India and the U.S. Kalpavruksha Dance Ensemble , presents “The Flame of Destiny”, based on the story of Draupathi from India’s epic, Mahabharata. The original production for 16 danc- ers has been choreographed by Swathi Gundapuneedi- Atluri, originally from Hyderabad, an acclaimed exponent of Kuchipudi who established her dance academy in 1999 in New Jersey. Guest Kathakali dancers from Canada and NewYork will join the cast. Subhajit Khush Das , an award-winning dancer/choreog- rapher from Kolkata, will present the world-premiere of “MAA, The Protector”, in the style of Uday Shankar. An MFA graduate of Rabindra Bharati University, he leads his own dance company that has been widely seen in live and televised performances across India. Malini Srinivasan & Dancers will present “Devi Sabdam”, a work dedicated to the essence of divine feminine power and creativity, choreographed by Renjith Babu and set for the Festival stage by Malini Srinivasan. Based in NewYork City and trained by the late C.V. Chandrasekhar and oth- ers, Malini’s Bharatanatyam choreography, teaching and performance have nurtured a new generation of dedi- cated dancers, six of whom will join her on stage. Sampradaya Dance Creations of Canada presents “Dwitiya”, a Bharatanatyam duet celebrating the divine union of Shiva and Shakti, embodying balance and oneness of masculine and feminine energies. Choreographed by Lada Pada, Founder and Artistic Director of Sampradaya, the work is performed by Harikishan Nair and Atri Nundy. ABOUT BATTERY DANCE Founded by Jonathan Hollander in 1976 in lower Manhattan, Battery Dance is considered one of America’s leading cultural ambassadors, connecting the world through dance, a press release from the organization said. “Battery Dance is committed to enhancing the cultural vibrancy of its home community in NewYork City, ex- tending programming throughout the U.S., and build- ing bridges worldwide through international cultural exchange with programs in 75 countries to date.” Please RSVP to Michelle Tabnick: michelle@michellet- abnickpr.com, 646-765-4773 to attend. For more details, visit https://batterydance.org/ By a StaffWriter A dance performance photo provided by Battery Dance. PHOTO:TrailerVideo Grab Vaibhav Raj Gupta and Vaani Kapoor in Mandala Murders.