‘Killer Soup’ Ending Explained – Did Swathi and Umesh Survive?

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Killer Soup

The Big Picture

• Netflix’s Killer Soup is a twisted tale of quirky characters with incredible vices that push them deeper into an abyss.
• The romantic affair between an aspiring restaurateur and her husband leads to a path paved with bigger secrets.
• The black comedy continues to throw twists and turns through compelling story elements and interesting character choices.

Netflix’s latest Indian black comedy Killer Soup packs a lot of punch in terms of a twisted tale of quirky characters. Each character carries their own set of incredible vices that push them deeper into an abyss from which recovery seems to be a choice between life and death. In Killer Soup, the discovery of the romantic affair of an aspiring restaurateur (Konkana Sen Sharma) of her husband (portrayed by Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee) leads to a path that invariably paves the way for bigger secrets to creep in. Quite remarkably, Abhishek Chaubey‘s Killer Soup continues to throw twists and turns through compelling story elements and interesting character choices until the very end.

Betrayal and Chaos Are ‘Killer Soup’s Main Ingredients

Killer Soup sets the ground for the drama by introducing Prabhakar Shetty aka Prabhu (Manoj Bajpayee) and his wife Swathi (Konkana Sen Sharma), who wishes to start her own restaurant someday in the heart of Mainjur city. Formerly a nurse, Swathi has been sweating it out to perfect her Paya soup recipe, not knowing that her soup is more often than not a curse upon those who dare to taste it. Prabhu had promised Swathi that he would help her open her restaurant, but it became quite early in Episode 1 that Prabhu did not intend to keep his promise. Instead, Prabhu’s focus remained on getting funding from his businessman brother, Arvind Shetty (Sayaji Shinde).

Swathi, meanwhile, pursues an affair with Prabhu’s masseur, Umesh Pillai (Manoj Bajpayee), who uncannily resembles her husband, wihout knowing that her husband has hired the private investigator Kiran Nadar (Bagavathi Perumal) to track her. On Swathi’s visit to Prabhu’s place, the investigator captures images of the couple sharing an intimate space. Much to Swathi’s luck, she manages to grab hold of the camera, but in the turn of events, Kiran Nadar is crushed to death by a truck. Further trouble finds Swathi when Prabhu catches Swathi and Umesh together. As a result of the altercation that follows, Prabhu dies of a heart attack and Umesh and Swathi set out to hide the body.

How Does Thupalli Die in ‘Killer Soup’?

A dedicated police officer, Thupalli (Anbu Thasan), who’s investigating the death of Kiran Nadar, reaches out to Prabhu’s mobile as Prabhu was the last one to call Kiran. When Swathi picks up the phone and the police ask for Prabhu’s presence at the police station, Swathi comes up with an ingenious idea to bring back Prabhu to life through Umesh, who shares a resemblance with her husband. Swathi plans to alter Umesh’s face using cleaning acid so that nobody can recognize the difference between Umesh and Prabhu. When questioned, Swathi conjures a story about an acid attack by an unknown assailant.

Thupalli continues to dig deeper into Kiran Nadar’s death and finds out that the woman spotted near Kiran Nadar’s accident site used the alias, Manisha Koirala. He discovers that the mobile number used by Manisha was issued in the name of Umesh. Further, the evidence found at Kiran’s house reveals that he was hired by Prabhu who was being blackmailed by someone. When Thupalli conveys this information to Inspector Hassan (Nassar), Hassan confirms to Swathi that Umesh was blackmailing Prabhu and could be the attacker. Swathi pays a visit to Umesh’s house to gather any evidence that can link her with the primary suspect. Unfortunately, Thuppali happens to catch Swathi red-handed, but before he can arrest her, Thuppali meets an unexpected demise by falling from the suicide point.

The Soup Gets Thicker on Netflix’s Dark Comedy

A new player comes into the picture when Arvind Shetty’s daughter, Apeksha Shetty (Anula Navlekar), arrives at Maijnur. Upon being unwillingly tasked with managing her father’s company, she comes across dubious transactions that reveal to her Prabhu’s successful attempts at stealing millions from her father. Wanting to find her own way out to study art in Paris, against her father’s will, Apeksha uses the discovery as a great opportunity to collect funds for her study by blackmailing her uncle and aunt, unaware that her real uncle is already dead and is replaced by Umesh.

Back at home, Umesh and Swathi successfully manage to fool Arvind into believing that his brother is still alive. Meanwhile, moved by the death of his beloved junior, senior police officer Hassan starts looking deeper into the circumstances that led to Thupalli’s death. Weirdly enough, Hassan also starts hallucinating about Thupalli. Soon, Swathi also makes out that Apeksha is the one blackmailing her and Umesh. Desperate to find a solution, Swathi decides to join hands with Apeksha and seek money from Arvind through Umesh, who will pretend that he’s being blackmailed and will hope for mercy from his rich brother.

However, Arvind’s bodyguard, Lucas (Lal), comes across the evidence collected by Kiran Nadar which exposes Umesh and Swathi. But before Lucas can reveal anything to his boss, Arvind finds out about the plan put together by Swathi, Apeksha, and Umesh. Arvind confronts his family, and in a quick turn of events, Apeksha ends up shooting her father, mistakenly. It is also hinted that Lucas could be the real father of Apeksha.

Swathi’s Past Connects the Dots for Hassan

Hassan’s investigation takes an interesting turn when the evidence found by him leads to the site where Swathi and Umesh buried Prabhu’s body. Naturally, Prabhu’s body is mistaken for that of Umesh, and to conclude the identity of the victim, a DNA test is ordered. Hassan also finds out about Manisha Koirala, the alias used by Swathi on her visits to her cooking teacher. The police officer concludes that Arvind must know something, but before he can get a chance, the second brother also breathes his last. Regardless, the final piece of the puzzle falls into place for Hassan when it’s revealed that Umesh and Swathi knew each other more closely than they let on initially. Swathi and Umesh used to work at the same hospital, where they met for the first time.

Arvind’s death had led to a sigh of relief for Swathi. Even Hassan’s attempt at yielding a confession from Swathi’s cooking teacher fails. Moreover, using her dead father’s riches, Apeksha decides to make her aunt’s dream of opening a restaurant come true. The path of peace doesn’t continue for long for Swathi as she again starts getting blackmailed. This time, the blackmailer turns out to be Kirtima (Kani Kusruti), the accountant at Prabhu’s company who had fallen in love with Swathi’s husband. Kirtima’s coincidental arrival at Umesh’s house, moments before Arvind was shot, had left in her possession video evidence against Swathi. Head over heels for Prabhu, Kirtima urges Swathi to divorce her husband. Although Swathi tries to kill Kirtima with Lucas’ help, Kirtima meets a similar fate to that of Thupalli, falling to death on her own. The news of Kirtima’s death becomes the final nail in the coffin for Umesh, whose guilt had started consuming him.

Do Swathi and Umesh Get Arrested in ‘Killer Soup’?

When the intimate photographs of Umesh and Swathi land in Hassan’s hands, he assumes that Prabhu had harmed himself using acid on Swathi’s persuasion. In a final attempt, Hassan pays a visit to Prabhu, who happens to be Umesh. At the house, Hassan finds the acid bottle used by Swathi and Umesh, but bad luck continues to follow him as he resigns from his position. At the end of Killer Soup, the situation appears to fall in place for Swathi preparing for her restaurant’s inauguration. She takes the help of her cooking teacher to further misguide the investigation and frame the now-dead Kirtima for her crimes. Lastly, Swathi gets her hands on the secret ingredient for her soup: highly potent ground wild mushrooms.

Having discovered that Swathi and Umesh had bought the acid from a local shop, Hassan manages to find the final clue when the DNA report reveals that the body did not belong to Umesh. With the entire case resolved, he heads to Swathi’s party to confront her, only to find guilt-ridden Umesh revealing Swathi’s dark secrets after being intoxicated by excess amounts of soup containing wild, grounded mushrooms. But before Swathi’s arrest, Umesh succumbs to the effects of the wild mushrooms and starts spitting blood.

The ending of Killer Soup portrays the police trying to take Umesh to the hospital while Hassan stays behind to get hold of Swathi. Unfortunately, knowing she has no way out, Swathi jumps from a cliff with her last words inquiring about the soup she prepared with passion. Umesh also goes missing from the car. The final moments of Killer Soup show Swathi swimming upward after nearly drowning. Later, she walks into a dreamy bus where Umesh is already waiting for her. Although initially confusing, it becomes clear that this reunion for the couple occurs in the afterlife, with Thupalli seen sitting on the roof of the bus.

Killer Soup is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.

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