Mardaani 3

With Mardaani 3, Shivani Shivaji Roy, the uncompromising police officer, returns once again as she is pitted against a network of criminals involved in child trafficking. While the narrative shows a few minor structural hiccups, director Abhiraj Minawala keeps the storytelling sharp enough, ensuring that the film remains gripping and consistently engaging.

The kidnapping of an Indian ambassador’s daughter, along with the daughter of his household help, in a small town in northern India triggers intense political pressure, drawing tough cop Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani MUkerji) into the case. What appears at first to be a straightforward abduction soon grows more complicated when the trail leads to Amma (Mallika Prasad), a powerful figure within a trafficking network. Assisted by her team, including constable Fatima (Janki Bodiwala), Shivani encounters Ramanujan (Prajesh Kashyap), a social worker claiming to fight the same forces she is pursuing. As the investigation unfolds, shifting motives and unresolved gaps suggest a design far more intricate and unsettling than initially assumed…

Mardaani 3 retains the franchise’s tough temperament, prioritising urgency over embellishment. At a brisk 2 hours and 10 minutes, it sets its stakes early, foregrounding the brutality of the crime that will drive the investigation. Shivani is reintroduced through a muscular action set piece that underlines her authority and physical command. It is less about agility now and more about controlled force, with a faint nod to the star-driven swagger of SRK’s entry in Jawan (2023). Aayush Gupta’s screenplay moves decisively from one plot point to the next, steadily peeling back layers as the narrative tightens. The interval arrives on a note of genuine intensity, and the film sustains its grip in the second half, even as it pivots into a darker, more clinical register reminiscent of a medical thriller. It is a tonal shift that the film quietly prepares us for well in advance.

There is a key moment when the antagonist, seeking to provoke Shivani, points out the bias driving the investigation. The case has moved with such speed, she is told, because the kidnapped child belongs to a top-notch government official. Had only the daughter of the household help been taken, the machinery of the state would not have been mobilised with the same force. The observation recalls the moral and class fissures at the heart of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963). It is a comparison the film does not overtly pursue, but one that nonetheless surfaces with unsettling clarity – a blunt reminder of how, in India, the lives of the poor and the underprivileged are routinely assigned lesser value. This cynicism is driven home again in the pre-climax, when another antagonist remarks that human life in India is priced lower than that of animals protected abroad. These moments lend Mardaani 3 a sharper political edge, briefly pushing it beyond genre mechanics into an uncomfortable reflection on institutional apathy and social hierarchy.

Being a franchise film does not diminish Shivani’s centrality. On the contrary, Mardaani 3 keeps her firmly at the forefront of every major development, ensuring that she commands both the action-driven passages and the dialogue-heavy confrontations. The series’ recurring impulse to frame her as a near-mythic force akin to an avenging goddess tasked with annihilating evil resurfaces here as well, somewhat heavy-handedly underscored through a stray puppet show in a narrow alley. Her husband, Dr Bikram Roy (Jisshu Sengupta), remains largely instrumental, introduced primarily to raise the emotional stakes when she is forced to negotiate between familial responsibility and professional duty. And though the progression of events is restless in its twists and turns; they do not always land with precision.

Several narrative detours feel designed less to deepen tension than to swiftly resolve one problem to manufacture the next, creating a chain of contrived obstacles. Such mechanical progression strains credibility, particularly when a character grievously harmed by the antagonist in the past is made to display an implausible loyalty and affection towards the oppressor. Even the climactic sequence, instead of building sustained suspense, seems engineered chiefly to position Shivani as a righteous punisher delivering retribution for wrongdoing. Moreover, the action choreography is at its most effective in the opening and interval sequences, both of which are staged with greater clarity and force than the comparatively underwhelming showdown.

Rani Mukerji shoulders the film almost single-handedly, supplying much of its momentum and moral force. She delivers her power-packed dialogue with assured authority and handles the action sequences with a seasoned ease, anchoring the film even when the narrative falters. Mallika Prasad registers as a chilling presence from her very first appearance, bringing a measured menace to her role and inhabiting its cruelty without exaggeration. Janki Bodiwala is competent though the part itself offers little challenge, especially when set against the range she displayed in her National Award–winning role in Vash (2023). Prajesh Kashyap lends sincerity as the idealistic NGO worker, while the supporting cast largely remains functional.

Artur Żurawski’s cinematography lends the film a coarse, lived-in grit, framing both characters and locations in ways that serve the story’s dramatic purpose. Yasha Jaidev Ramchandani’s editing keeps the narrative tightly paced and largely free of inertia. The sound design by Dileep Subramaniam and Ganesh Gangadharan reinforces the film’s abrasive atmosphere, while John Stewart Eduri’s background score remains edgy without overwhelming the drama.

Though Mardaani 3 cannot match the finesse and polish of Pradeep Sarkar’s direction and Gopi Puthran’s screenplay in the first instalment, it nonetheless stands as a worthy enough addition to the franchise. Abhiraj Minawala, in his second film, brings a sharper, procedural edge to the material, signalling himself as a filmmaker with promise. The film closes with a clear hint of continuation, and despite its imperfections, one is not averse to following Shivani and her team into yet another investigation.

Hindi, Thriller, Drama, Color