‘Mardaani 3’ movie review: A Rani Mukerji project that loses steam after half-time

Rani Mukerji's socially relevant takedown of the child-trafficking and begging mafia in 'Mardaani 3' is marred by predictable plot twists, bombast, and antagonists who are less menacing than in previous instalments

Mounted more than a decade ago as a challenge to the action-hero archetype, Mardaani‘s third instalment begins as a fiercely committed, unflinching crime thriller that delves deeper into the horrors of child trafficking and the begging mafia, delivered with raw brutality and social urgency.

Anchored by Rani Mukerji as Shivani Shivaji Roy, the story centres on a tough cop’s investigation into a high-profile kidnapping that unravels a vast network of child exploitation.

A still from ‘Mardaani 3’ | Photo Credit: Yash Raj Films

It begins with the abduction of two girls – one from a privileged background and the other from a marginalised one — from the outskirts of a diplomat’s farmhouse in Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh, forcing Shivani to navigate official pressures, criminal syndicates, and moral dilemmas. Do the two lives carry the same weight? Her superiors repeatedly tell Shivani to focus only on the diplomat’s daughter, even after it becomes clear that the kidnapping doesn’t have a political motive but has a social dimension.

Both the system and the syndicate know whose life matters, setting off a game of one-upmanship between two fiery women: Shivani and Amma, the queen of a beggar mafia. While Shivani uses the social difference between the victims to bring the kidnappers out of their shell, she eventually realises that it compromised the life of the guard’s daughter. Finding herself shackled in the uniform, Shivani lets her rage take over the rules of the game.

Director Abhiraj Minawala and writer Aayush Gupta create an imperfect world run by flawed characters. The antagonists, Amma (Mallika Prasad) and Ramanujan (Prajesh Kashyap), have backstories that suggest they are products of the rot they now rule.