Adhura isn’t a good horror show (or a good show in general, for that matter), and it’s especially not good with revelations. So, pretty early on in the game, showrunners Ananya Banerjee and Gauravv K. Chawla reveal that Vedant is possessed by the ghost of Ninad Raman. And going by the pattern of the deaths, it becomes very evident that Ninad is using Vedant to kill his homophobic classmates, who are responsible for his death. Well, technically, Ninad is killing anyone who comes in his way as well, as shown in the hospital massacre that he causes. In fact, he kills a lot of innocent people and gets selective when it comes to killing his classmates. The show gives a flimsy reason about how animals should be taught not to attack humans, to probably underscore Ninad’s sense of superiority. But it doesn’t work really well. But that somehow brings us to the showdown at the Nilgiri Valley School.
Spoilers Alert
Dev Is Killed By Ninad’s Ghost
Alright, just to bring you up to speed regarding what happened, Ninad was in love with Adhiraj. Adhiraj was probably in love with Malvika since she was his girlfriend. On the last day, Malvika was supposed to throw a surprise party for Adhiraj. But before that, Adhiraj and Ninad entered a photobooth to click some photos. Ninad tried to kiss Adhiraj, and Adhiraj reacted violently, going as far as to shame Ninad publicly. When Malvika learned about this, she got sad. The homophobic Dev, who had a crush on Malvika, violently beat up Ninad because he ruined Malvika’s day and because Ninad was gay. Suyash and Rajat joined Dev in that beatdown, but it was Dev’s final blow that apparently killed him and prevented him from reconciling with Adhiraj after reading his speech. Captain Vyas, along with Devi Prasad, buried Ninad while making it seem that he had gone missing. Even SSP Anil Joshi was in on it. One unfortunate night, Vyas had the bright idea of digging up Ninad’s body, which disturbed his soul and sent him on his revenge quest. He latched onto Vedant because he related to the way he was bullied.
All caught up now? Okay, so during the finale, Ninad (in Vedant’s body) gets to Devi Prasad first and tortures him horribly. As he limps his way into the school, we learn that Dev is trying to make a run for it with Malvika. Then Ninad starts to crumble the school’s structure, thereby causing all the students and “Old Boys” (ex-students) to gather at the school’s grounds. And then Ninad kills Dev in front of everyone. Ninad’s spirit seemingly leaves Vedant’s body as he falls into Supriya’s arms. That means Ninad’s revenge is complete because all his killers are dead. I do want to point out that Suyash’s death and the way his girlfriend is found to be chilling at some resort veers too close to conspiracy theory territory. To be specific, the conspiracy theories around the death of a Bollywood actor whose girlfriend was hounded for years for no reason. I’m just saying, it’s not a good look for Adhura.
Malvika Is Revealed To Be A Killer As Well
Since all that happens at the midpoint of the last episode of Adhura, it’s obvious that there’s a “surprise” killer, and it turns out to be Malvika. On that fateful last day of school, Ninad didn’t actually die from Dev’s brutal blow in the archive room. He got up, went all the way to the secret spot where Malvika and Adhiraj used to meet, and tried to make it up to her about the whole confusion around his feelings for Adhiraj. But Malvika was blinded by her hatred for Ninad, and she pushed him off the ledge, which caused his bones to break and his neck to snap, i.e., the method Ninad uses to kill his killers. Then she went to Dev and asked for help, who then went to Vyas, who then went to Devi Prasad. When Ninad fell, though, he grabbed onto Malvika’s badge, which had her signature star on it.
Since that badge is found with Ninad’s corpse, Adhiraj figures it all out and confronts Malvika, who drops all her pretense and admits that she’s the killer. On the one hand, it makes sense why she ended up with Dev and not Adhiraj. On the other hand, this incredibly flaky “twist” robbed the show of the chance to portray Adhiraj as one of the killers. I mean, I had my money on that because it would’ve been diabolical for Adhiraj to use the ghost to cover his tracks and then do some spiritual mumbo jumbo to trap Ninad, thereby absolving him of his sins and eliminating everyone who could’ve incriminated him. Anyway, Ninad re-enters Vedant’s body and kills Malvika. As he starts to destroy the school, Adhiraj pleads with Ninad to let go of Vedant. Ninad tells Adhiraj to let go of him and then disappears, which apparently cures Vedant. It’s a very weird thing to do at the umpteenth moment because Ninad’s last words make it seem like Adhiraj is responsible for all this, as if his tendency to hold onto Ninad’s memory has caused all this and not Ninad’s thirst for vengeance. When that’s coupled with Adhiraj’s medication, which can cause hallucinations, it all feels messy.
‘Adhura’ Ending Explained: Whose Spirit Entered Supriya?
At the end of Adhura, Vedant goes back to his parents, who welcome him with open arms. I want to remind everyone that these are the very parents who were okay with keeping him there even though he was being bullied. What are they smiling about? Their kid has been in the middle of a supernatural fiasco that decimated the school. Are they delusional? I don’t know because the show doesn’t give any concrete answers. The Nilgiri Valley School is closed until further notice. Officer Bedi tries to make a point about how many queer kids are killed and says that’s wrong. Yes, and what’s the solution? You are supposed to present a solution instead of just pointing at the obvious and saying that there is a problem. Just saying that you cannot ignore the problem isn’t enough anymore. We know that ignoring the problem is a problem. What’s the solution to that? The showrunners don’t have any answers for that either because they don’t want to spend any time understanding queer people. They only want them to be abused and turn into ghosts.
Ninad’s remains were delivered to his parents. It’s funny how little we see of them, even though they are the parents of the most pivotal character in the show. I say “funny,” but I mean, “that’s bad writing.” Adhiraj boards his flight, and Supriya goes to the psychic she met at the hospital, who said she can speak to the dead. Supriya says that she wants to speak to Abhi. That brings us to Supriya’s little backstory, where she killed her son Abhi due to her postpartum depression. When the psychic calls out to Abhi, something enters Supriya’s body, and the psychic keeps saying that that’s not Abhi. The lights in Adhiraj’s plane also start to flicker, and that’s where the show ends. This means that the showrunners have left the door open for Adhura Season 2. I’ve no clue if that’s going to happen, but if Prime Video does greenlight it, I sincerely hope they make the visuals better, the scares scarier, and the characters relatable. If they can’t do that, they can feel free to end this story on this ambiguous note.
