The crime-thriller comedy Sunflower, available on ZEE5 since June 11, 2021, runs across eight episodes and centres around a murder investigation inside a residential complex that’s home to an unusual mix of characters.
Things start with Mr Ahuja (Mukul Chadha), one of the residents of Sunflower Society, making a move to end the life of his troublesome neighbour Raj Kapoor (Ashwin Kaushal) by putting poison in his coconut water. Soon after, the police come to the society to begin the murder enquiry, questioning those who live there.
Everyone’s a suspect when secrets hide in plain sight (Photo: Sunflower Season 1/Ming Productions, Beijing Film Studio (part of China Film Corporation’s 4th Production Company), and the Hong Kong subsidiary of Fortissimo Films)Officers DG (Ranvir Shorey) and Tambe (Girish Kulkarni) interrogate Sonu Singh (Sunil Grover), who works in sales at a cosmetics firm. They later question Ahuja, who claims he never had any issues with the deceased, Mr Kapoor.
Once Bromethalin poison is found in Kapoor’s system, the police visit Sonu’s apartment after discovering he ordered food from the same source as Kapoor. They ask him about the poison, and Sonu mentions he used it to kill a rat.
Fearing they might be implicated, Ahuja and his wife (Radha Bhatt) attempt to conceal the coconut inside a plant pot. But they later recall that the straw remains at Kapoor’s flat. To retrieve the straw, Ahuja crawls through a vent to sneak into Kapoor’s apartment.
Unfortunately for him, he fails to recover the straw, as the police seize it first. At the same time, the Sunflower Society’s committee, under Mr Iyer’s (Ashish Vidyarthi) leadership, keeps modifying the residency form to restrict entry to people who fit a specific cultural and moral profile.
Meanwhile, Sonu puts himself forward for the position of society Chairman, gaining support from Iyer’s daughter (Ria Nalavade). A food delivery worker tells the police that Sonu had picked up Kapoor’s food order together with his own the night before the murder, returning only after the delivery man had cleaned the floor.
As DG increases the pressure on Ahuja with more questions, Tambe retrieves CCTV footage showing the maid and the watchman, and calls them in for further questioning. Trying to help his neighbour Gurleen (Nerurkar Simran), Sonu speaks to her father-in-law, but this leads to trouble as his goons later come looking for him.
Later, when Justina (Dayana Erappa) hosts a party that moves to Sonu’s flat, the guests end up discovering a company-branded lipstick and a dead rat. As the investigation continues, the police begin checking the entire Sunflower building for the poisoned coconut.
Ahuja tries to get rid of it by leaving it in a corridor, after wiping off fingerprints. Eventually, Sonu finds the coconut and dumps it in the bin at his place. The following day, the police catch him while he is selling a box of syringes to a pharmacist.
During interrogation, Sonu reveals that he once worked for a pharmaceutical firm, and the syringes he was seen with were meant for administering rat poison. His colleague Aanchal (Saloni Khanna), who finds him interesting, invites him on a date, but ends up drugging him and then breaking off after Justina and Gurleen turn up at the club.
Sonu wakes up the next morning at Justina’s house and attempts to sneak back to his own. When his boss visits to discuss a leaked product idea, Sonu escapes through the window and ends up in another tenant’s home, who then requests that he be taken to the hospital.
DG becomes suspicious of Ahuja’s statements and returns to the building. There, he spots footprints on the shared balcony between Ahuja and Kapoor’s flats. At the same time, Tambe presents a photo of Sonu and Kapoor at a wedding.
Based on this, they start looking more deeply into Sonu’s possible involvement. The question now is—who exactly will be held responsible for the murder?
Sunflower Ending Explained in Detail
Sonu and Kapoor’s connection
In the concluding episode, a flashback takes us to the wedding of Juhi and Ashish, which Sonu attended, danced at, and ate alone. While on stage congratulating the couple, he ended up in a family photo with Kapoor’s relatives.
DG then visits Juhi’s house to dig into Sonu’s background. She introduces herself as both Sonu’s former girlfriend and Kapoor’s one-time secretary. She explains how Kapoor forced her to break up with Sonu and marry someone ‘suitable’—Ashish.
She recounts how Sonu caught Kapoor convincing her to leave him for someone more compatible. She agreed, and Sonu silently walked away from the relationship. DG feels this incident provides Sonu with a strong motive for murder, so he instructs Tambe to go locate him.
Police arrive to arrest Sonu
Tambe begins checking for Sonu but doesn’t find him at his flat. When he questions Jusleen, she instead pleads with him to assist in finding Gurleen, who has not returned since going out for a music audition.
Comedy and crime collide under one roof (Photo: Sunflower Season 1/Ming Productions, Beijing Film Studio (part of China Film Corporation’s 4th Production Company), and the Hong Kong subsidiary of Fortissimo Films)The sub-inspector later tracks Sonu to the hospital, where he had taken another tenant, but Sonu is no longer there. Armed with a search warrant, DG and his team arrive at the Sunflower Society and proceed to Sonu’s apartment.
During the society’s 18th-anniversary event, Mr Iyer presents a revised application form and announces that Sonu has been declared guilty of killing Kapoor. Hearing this, Ahuja feels relaxed and begins to laugh. With help from a local key maker, the police enter Sonu’s flat and begin searching for clues.
They find some unused syringes in his drawer and also discover the poisoned coconut in his dustbin. DG then sends Tambe to check the key maker’s shop in case Sonu has returned there. But once again, Sonu is nowhere to be found.
Where is Sonu?
After leaving the hospital, Sonu pays a visit to the key maker and waits at the shop until his door can be opened. Meanwhile, his boss decides to punish him due to multiple work-related and personal issues. While the authorities look everywhere for him, Sonu is suddenly abducted by Gurleen’s husband and father-in-law’s henchmen.
They drive him to a remote area with sunflower fields. Elsewhere, Ahuja’s wife, fed up with her husband’s behaviour, threatens to expose him as the real murderer. Ahuja is caught off guard as he realises his wife is now blackmailing him.
This final scene ends with suspense, leaving several matters unresolved. This points towards the possibility of a second season, although there’s been no official confirmation yet.
