Abhay Doel, Gul Panag, Sarika, and Raima Sen make for an unusual cast. But Manorama Six Feet Under brings together powerful performances by these actors in a murder mystery story based in a small town in India.
This Indian thriller proceeds slowly but wisely, and the climax is worth the build-up. But if you need a refresher on what exactly goes down, here is a detailed discussion on the ending of Manorama Six Feet Under.
Consider yourself warned: Spoilers ahead!
Manorama Six Feet Under Plot Overview
Satyaveer is a PWD engineer and a one-time published author of Manorama who fails to achieve fame as a writer. He lives a mundane life until one day, an older lady claiming to be the wife of the Irrigation Minister and ex-raja of Lakhot, P. P. Rathore, tasks him with finding proof of her husband cheating on her.
Everything turns on its head when she dies mysteriously, absorbing Satyaveer into a world of local politics, corruption, and scandals as he puts on his detective hat.
Manorama Six Feet Under Ending
Who is Manorama? Who Killed Her and Sheetal?
Manorama and Sheetal both worked at the local orphanage backed by Rathore. However, it turns out the politician is a scumbag who has preyed on kids and abused them till his heart’s desire.
The real Sheetal (not Neetu masquerading as her) and Manorama had figured out this despicable habit of Rathore’s and had actual evidence of this, which is why he had his goons kill them.
But Manorama, in no way, was actually Rathore’s wife; she was just pretending so as to convince Satyaveer to go to the politician’s house and click incriminating photos of him. In reality, she was planted at the NGO by Rathore himself, which means she seemingly worked for the politician of her own volition (until she tries to help her brother get married).
Before Satyaveer finds out the truth, he thinks Manorama merely knew about the canal being a ploy to increase land prices in Rathore’s favour (something we will get back to later). However, she knew much more than she had let on…
In order to understand what actually happened to Manorama, let’s understand exactly what goes on in the climax.
What Photos Does Rathore Want and Why?
Satyaveer spends a lot of time with “Sheetal,” and they almost kiss each other as well, only for his bubble to burst a few days later. As it just so turns out, Neetu is Rathore’s mistress and is pretending to be Sheetal so she can gain access to Satyaveer’s knowledge of the case.
Neetu explains to Satyaveer that she was only at Manorama’s house to find “the photos” and that it’s his fault for misunderstanding who she was. Then, Neetu threatens Satyaveer and says Rathore will “prove” the protagonist tried to blackmail him with Sameera’s aid unless he turns in the photos.
When Satyaveer finally shows up at the politician’s office with the pictures he took, it turns out that isn’t what Rathore wants.
Instead, there is a second roll of film that Manorama got developed (and Satyaveer had no clue about) — the ones that would serve as evidence of Rathore being a pedophile.
Recalling the conversation he had with Manorama on the night she died, Satyaveer realizes the clue he needs actually lies in his own book on page 32.
The Hotel Natraj mentioned in his book leads him to the real Hotel Natraz (room 101), and he visits the location to hunt for the photos. Eventually, he finds them behind the switchboard, but after realizing what is shown in them, Satyaveer throws up.
We are then shown a flashback in which it is revealed the orphanage worked in cahoots with Rathore and would send many girls to his house — something that the real Sheetal had caught onto.
Sheetal then discussed this with Manorama, who wanted to use this information to stop the construction of the canal, which would have no benefits for the local population anyway. But more than that, she also wanted to help Dr. Poddar and Sameera get married, and she planned to use these photos as leverage.
When Satyaveer failed to get the photos she wanted, Manorama decided to take it upon herself and clicked Rathore interacting with a 9-year-old girl named Deepti.
However, something went awry in Rathore’s house that night, resulting in Deepti dying and her body being buried in the canal’s construction site, even though all work had been halted since a while.
Who Killed Dr. Anil Poddar and Sameera?
Surprise surprise… Rathore — the big bad villain of the film — is the one who orchestrates the murder of the doctor and his fiancee.
Sameera is actually Rathore’s biological daughter, whom the politician has failed to acknowledge. After all, she wasn’t born to Rathore’s wife but to another woman, and so to save his political career, he could not accept her as his own daughter.
Sameera falls in love with Dr. Poddar, but he has a conservative family that isn’t convinced an orphan would be the best fit for the family. So, in a bid to reclaim her “legitimacy,” she approaches Rathore and asks him to accept the truth — but that will destroy him.
When all else fails, Sameer and her fiance decide to go to the media to expose Rathore. But since the politician cannot allow that, he has both of them killed. In doing so, the cunning Rathore is also able to kill two birds with one stone; Rathore also tries to use this murder to incriminate Satyaveer and get the nosy protagonist out of his own way.
What Does Satyaveer Do With the Photos? What Happens to Rathore?
With not much else left to do, Satyaveer goes to Rathore’s office with the real photos. The protagonist also tells Neetu he knows the truth — that Manorama and Dr. Poddar were actually siblings.
So, it becomes clear that as the sole heir to Rathore’s vast empire, Sameera would have inherited everything, which would also benefit Dr. Poddar — and most likely, Manorama — to a great extent as well.
However, there is a key piece of information that Satyaveer tells the minister after he instructs Neetu to sexually harass the lead character — Rathore has been slowly dying for the past six months from lung cancer.
Dr. Poddar was aware of the issue, but he hid it from Rathore and only gave him injections that subsided the symptoms of the cancer because none of them could care less about the minister and his existence.
In an ironic turn of events, Rathore — the man who lives, breathes, and only thinks about power — was outperformed by two people whose murder he was responsible for.
Rathore’s own slow death, it seems, is the ultimate power play by Dr. Poddar from beyond the grave.
As Satyaveer reveals this news, Mrs. Rathore starts laughing, almost as if relishing the twisted turn of events.
Towards the end, Satyaveer leaves Rathore’s office practically unscathed, though some crooks do dismantle his scooter. He then relishes in his victory and ponders over the ever-changing nature of life, existence, and power before leaving in a pink taxi and catching up with his family.
What Happened to Rathore’s Wife?
The scene I have just described above with Mrs. Rathore is such a high point in the film. But it begs the question — why does her laughter feel so…justified?
Well, we, as the audience, know Rathore is an absolutely horrendous man. But for Mrs. Rathore, it seems to be much more personal than that. While we merely see him carry out abysmal acts, she has lived it.
And reality is often stranger than fiction, a theme prevalent throughout Manorama Six Feet Under.
Though we don’t know much about Mrs. Rathore, it is disclosed early on in the film that she suffered an “accident,” rendering her unable to have children. This is also the basis for Rathore giving that speech about his supposed love and gratitude for the orphanage, all of which is utter crap in reality. News reports also inform us that she prefers to stay at home and rarely steps out.
So, what actually happened to Mrs. Rathore? Why is she only ever seen in a wheelchair? What was the “accident” that made her so, and who was behind it?
Well, the film is vague about all this and never answers this question, perhaps in an attempt to show how many crimes by the powerful go unnoticed.
After all, Rathore loves exhibiting his power, which is proven when he coerces Neetu into sexually harassing Satyaveer. Though this is not to entirely absolve her of any culpability, it is worth noting that the only time Neetu does so to Satyaveer — despite living in his house for days at a stretch — is when Rathore tries to express his own “power” over her. So, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that Rathore views the women in his life as somewhat dispensable.
Still, at no point in Manorama Six Feet Under is Rathore held responsible — or even mildly accused — of what happened to his wife… until she lets out that laughter.
From it, one could deduce that Rathore was probably involved in the incident that took away the use of her legs.
Though we will never know why Mrs. Rathore is in the position she is in — whether it was abuse (physical or sexual) by her husband or something else — the vindication in her laughter makes us strongly feel that the politician had something to do with it.
After all, her being physically handicapped definitely makes it easier for him to carry out his disgusting wishes and pedophilic practices.
Even if he isn’t directly responsible for her condition, he still benefits from it.
So, it makes one wonder if Mrs. Rathore’s condition is the result of her husband’s power-hungry schemes. It would make sense that as a victim of her own husband’s greed, she finally feels like karma has caught up with him and given him a taste of his own medicine.
In other words, her laughter feels like she has finally gotten justice for whatever happened to her, even if the specifics remain unclear to the audience.
