Our Bureau
Mumbai
Rani Mukerji is back as Senior Superintendent of Police Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani 3, the latest chapter in the popular cop franchise from Yash Raj Films. Directed by Abhiraj Minawala and written by Aayush Gupta, the film pits Shivani against a powerful female crime boss and a network that preys on missing girls in and around Delhi. The film opened in theatres this week and has been receiving strong reactions for its lead performances and tightly wound crime plot.
The story begins with the kidnapping of two girls from a farmhouse in Bulandshahr, one the daughter of a VIP, the other the child of a domestic worker. As Shivani takes charge, she uncovers a larger pattern: nearly 100 minor girls have vanished in just three months, many of them street children from poor families. Her investigation leads her into the shadowy world of a beggar mafia and a mysterious figure known only as “Amma,” played by Mallika Prasad, who runs a ruthless criminal ring from the city’s underbelly.
Mukerji’s Shivani is shown as a quick‑thinking, no‑nonsense officer who moves between Delhi, Bulandshahr, Jaipur and even Colombo in pursuit of the truth. She works closely with rookie constable Fatima Anwar, played by Janki Bodiwala, who adds a layer of fresh energy to the team. The film’s first half is especially sharp, mixing procedural detail with tense action and clear moral stakes. In the second half, the plot expands into a medico‑social angle involving medical‑lab experiments on young girls, raising the scale of the crime but also stretching some of the narrative logic.
Mukerji carries the film with a confident, high‑energy performance, slipping easily back into the role of the crusading cop. Mallika Prasad, as the first female antagonist in the series, matches her with a quietly menacing presence, turning their confrontations into the film’s strongest scenes. The movie sticks to a classic good‑versus‑evil framework, but it uses the backdrop of gender inequality and child exploitation to give the thriller a sharper edge.
At its core, Mardaani 3 is a mainstream Hindi crime drama that works best when it stays focused on Shivani’s investigation and her clashes with Amma.
