Ayyana Mane series review: Ramesh Indira's murder mystery does not rise above routine TV soap standards

Ayyana Mane series story: Newly-married Jaji (Kushee Ravi) makes her way to her husband Dushyanth’s (Akshay Nayak) home, Ayyana Mane, where she’ s the newest member of the joint family that includes his parents, two brothers and a sister. But just as Jaji prepares to set foot in what will be her new home, her father-in-law collapses and passes away, following which it is revealed that the family has been dealing with a string of deaths in the last 4 years. With more deaths prophesied, could Jaji be next in line?

Ayyana Mane series review: Kannada has been the most neglected language by most mainstream streaming platforms, that for a while now, only movies that had a decent theatrical run would make it to OTTs. Web series were out of the question if the original language was Kannada. Heralding an imminent change in this unwritten rule, Zee Network commissioned what would be its first Kannada original web series in late 2024, and entrusted producer Shruti Naidu with the responsibility of making it.

Shruti, who has a long history of making successful TV serials, leaned on her trusted collaborator, director-actor Ramesh Indira to pull it off – the result of which, Ayyana Mane , a 6-part show, has now dropped on the platform. The big question, of course, is whether Ayyana Mane is the show that will open doors for more such content creation in Kannada. Well, by the looks of it, it seems highly unlikely.

Given Shruti and Ramesh’s long association with TV content, one wondered if they’d be able to break out of that mould and make a compelling limited series. Ayyana Mane, though, s truggles to shake off the TV serial vibe. The 90s setting and a narrative that unfolds in one household, with the family members at the centre of a mystery, in episodes of 18-20 minute duration only, has all the trappings of a daily soap.

This time, though, Premier Padmini maker Ramesh is not accorded the luxury of elaborate story-telling, so there’s not much by way of character building either. Actors like Vijay Shobraj, Hitha Chandrashekar, Anirudh Acharya, Mansi Sudhir etc., get barely baked arcs, as Ramesh goes from establishing the what, where, how and why of the deaths in a particular family. There is a sense of urgency in the narrative, which is welcome, but the problem is that what then unfolds is not the most engaging.

Yes, there are deaths, but given the limited scope of the setting and number of characters, it is a given that one of them is the perpetrator, and, hence, the reveal has no shock or even surprise value. The biggest problem, however, is the execution. Amid budgetary constraints, Shruti and Ramesh have tried to present a decently-made show, but it pales in comparison to original content made for the same platform in other languages. The difference in quality is absolutely stark.

As Kannada’s comeback series, Ayyana Mane needed to make a statement in terms of story-telling and execution, to make network bosses take note and have audiences outside of Karnataka show interest as well. It fails on those counts and as far as identifying a target audience, and catering to what they’d like, Ayyana Mane is a misfire.

Ayyana Mane series verdict: A murder mystery, with a touch of the supernatural, Ayyana Mane lacks thrills and chills. The story-telling is tepid, while characters have little to no impact. Worse still is that it is a lost opportunity. It would be nothing short of a miracle if Ayyana Mane inspires the confidence in other platforms to invest on Kannada content.