‘Aranyak,’ a Netflix murder mystery, follows two cops, Kasturi Dogra (Raveena Tandon) and Angad Mallik (Parambrata Chatterjee), who are opposed yet must work together to uncover the grisly murder of a French teenager in the hill station town of Sironah. The Hindi-language show is a classic small-town whodunnit with a liberal dose of frightening folktales, with writer Rohan Sippy and director Vinay Waikul.
(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)
Recap of the first season
Angad Mallik and his wife Alka witness the kidnapping of their son, Maroot, during a school performance in the first episode. Then we cut to a flashback of Aimee Baptiste, who visits Hotel Bom but is assaulted severely.
Later, we witness Mahadev Dogra, Kasturi’s father-in-law and a retired chief policeman, telling the legend of the leopard-man. The creature is thought to come out during the eclipse to feast on blood, according to community legend.
We meet Manhas, his daughter Nilima, and his soon-to-be son-in-law, Ravi Parashar, later on. Manhas wants to clear the nearby trees to construct a resort. To do so, however, Jagdamba and District Collector/Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ashok must provide their assent. Mahadev later discovers Aimee’s body hanging in the wilderness. According to the autopsy report, she was raped and roofied before succumbing to asphyxiation.
People begin to suspect the leopard-man, who preys on women, is responsible for the murder.
The townspeople reveal and revise bits and pieces of knowledge as the season goes.
We also witness some shady local politics, in which Manhas manipulates DC Ashok and minister Jagdamba by targeting their sons, to build his resort without delay and debut Ravi as a politician. Meanwhile, Rewa suspects Govind because he goes out late at night and carries a noose. On a personal level, Kasturi is trapped in a loveless marriage with Hari, while Angad struggles with remorse at the loss of his son, which led to Alka’s divorce. When Angad sees Omi Chawla, the drug dealer who previously kidnapped his son, during Ravi and Nilima’s wedding, he decides to reopen his investigation.
Season 1 Ending: The terrible events surrounding Aimee’s death reveal several males in the little town’s aggressive tendencies. Even though it was Kanti who roofied Aimee at Hotel Bom, Gagan was the one who raped her after Kanti had left the room. He did it because he was weary of being taunted by the womanising Kanti for being studious and terrible at connecting with women, and overpowering Aimee offered him a temporary ego boost and sense of power.
Ravi later discovered Aimee, but his father-in-law compelled him to leave the Hotel Bom grounds. Following that, Manhas’ goon Chotu strangled Aimee to death. He and the others then stuffed her body into the trunk of Kanti’s automobile.
To make people suspect the leopard-man, Nandan dragged Aimee’s body into the jungle and placed claw marks on her neck. He then hung her body from a tree, where Mahadev discovered it the next day. As a result, we see how strong individuals’ subordinates, such as Manhas and Jagdamba, are willing to risk everything for the sake of loyalty and obedience.
Nandan, Jagdamba’s loyal servant and right-hand man, is revealed to be the leopard-man or “Nar Tendua” in the last scene. Mahadev is the one who learns this critical knowledge; his inquiry into the rope around Aimee’s neck leads him to the conclusion that the knot is only employed by hangmen.
Rabbit is revealed to be Maroot when it comes to rabbit. Because Angad and his men had jailed one of his nephews, Montoo, and killed another, Babloo, during a drug raid, Omi kidnapped Maroot. As a result, it’s quite likely that Omi raised Maroot as Rabbit, a heroin dealer, as the ultimate form of vengeance, or that he simply mixed up with the wrong crew.
Angad is seriously injured, but he will likely survive because Kasturi is nearby and can transport him to the hospital right away. In addition, the show’s second season may probably include Angad confronting Rabbit and coping with the ensuing issues.
