Mardaani 3 Review: Decent action thriller but lacks the magic of its predecessors
Mardaani 3 Movie Rating: 3 Stars
Watched Mardaani 3 movie in Hindi in Cinema. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my view on this movie.
Cast: Rani Mukerji, Mallika Prasad Sinha, Janki Bodiwala, Jisshu Sengupta, Prajesh Kashyap, Indraneel Bhattacharya and Mikhail Yawalkar
Director: Abhiraj Minawala
Release Date: 30th January 2026 in cinemas
Story: Movie revolves around SSP Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) gets an assignment to bring back a young girl Ruhani kidnapped in Bulandshahar after foiling a human trafficking crime in the Sundarbans. Ruhani (Avanee Joshi) is the is the daughter of India’s ambassador to Turkey Sahu (Indraneel Bhattacharya) so the case becomes high profile.
Although another girl Jhimli (Diorr Varghese) also kidnapped with Ruhani but she is daughter of normal caretaker so priority is to find Ruhani, but she keeps her focus on both. Her investigation leads her to a terrifying network run by the sinister Amma (Mallika Prasad) where kidnapped girls are being used for a horrifying medical business linked to a cancer vaccine.
During her on a wild-goose chase across Delhi, with her team in tow, including a new lady constable Fatima (Janki Bodiwala) who is more than eager to be useful instead of just serving tea at her station thana, which is dominated by male cops. Her search for Amma also leads her to NGO head Ramanujan (Prajesh Kashyap), whose past has now made him a crusader for kids who are victims of the nexus.
When she is almost close to solving the case, Shivani discovers that the human trafficking nexus is far deeper and murkier than it seems. Medical testing, greed of pharma companies, human testing and lab inventions- are all thrown into the mix. What challenges Shivani faced and how she cracked the case is all about this movie.
Positives
1. Performances
2. Cinematography
3. Background Music
4. Direction
Negatives
1. Length
2. Climax
3. Uneven Screenplay
4. Story lacks Novelty
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie on its release date as loved the previous movies of this franchise. It is a race against time and there will be no mercy. Shivani Shivaji Roy is back to rescue girls who go missing without a trace.
Mardaani 3 is grim, somber and deliberately bombastic, shining a harsh light on systemic rot while ensuring there is enough shock-and-awe to keep audiences glued. It is at its most effective when it holds a mirror up to society. It bluntly points out how the system springs into action only when the rich and powerful are affected. The police machinery moves at lightning speed because a diplomat’s daughter is missing, while hundreds of children, especially girls, are kidnapped every day and forced into begging, prostitution or worse. The film also wades into uncomfortable territory, touching upon organ trafficking and illicit pharmaceutical trials conducted on the poor, who often don’t even know they are being used as test subjects. These themes are undeniably important, even if the film chooses to present them in a heightened, exaggerated manner. The movie manages to maintain suspense as the audience is treated to two major crimes being solved, neatly divided into two halves. Dialogues about the Goddess being born every now and then to end the atrocities against girls and women add to the tropes. The writing is not consistently sharp, but the film maintains the Mardaani legacy in its action, production values, performance, and tone, which helps hold the audience’s attention.
Rani Mukerji gets plenty of scope to shine, seething with anger, screaming, radiating fury, and even taking on hand-to-hand combat in a truly boss-lady role. Her portrayal of the conflict between personal and professional duty is executed with remarkable restraint. The entry scene of Amma is a showstopper. Mallika Prasad’s cold, unflinching demeanor sends chills down your spine; she doesn’t scream menace, she breathes it. Her presence alone creates dread, making her one of the most unsettling antagonists in the franchise. Prajesh Kashyap as Ramanujan is exceptional, completely controlled and emerges as a surprise package. Abhiraj Minawala’s direction is alright, but it needed to be far better. His narration of the human drama should’ve evoked claps and tears from the viewers.
However, the film is not without its flaws. The first half of Mardaani 3 packs a heavy hangover of Delhi Crime 3, with its focus on child trafficking and a female antagonist. In the second half, the story introduces a new villain who acts as Amma’s confidante. Intended as a plot twist, this character shifts the film away from its original premise into a bizarre plot involving medical lab experiments on young girls. After the pointed references to the beggar mafia, the film absolutely squanders the chance to say anything about it at all. The film also suffers from familiar Bollywood cop-film conventions where the protagonist is conveniently one step ahead until the narrative demands she be overpowered. Villains have always been a strong point of Mardaani films, and Mallika Prasad, the first female antagonist in the series, shows promise with a chilling early presence. However, her character evolves into a cardboard villian, as the story concludes her arc in a curiously abrupt way. Director Abhiraj Minawala, working from a story by Aayush Gupta, seems primarily focused on highlighting Rani Mukerji’s character and her bravado. So much so that even the villains feel ineffective, and the mystery surrounding them ends up feeling largely predictable. Also, for a franchise that has been steadily evolving, this installment doesn’t take the story or characters much further, either emotionally or thematically. My biggest gripe with movie is that, unlike its predecessors, the social message feels oddly superficial. The film takes the easy route, sticking to a straightforward hero-versus-villain story and sacrificing nuance for spectacle. The astute police work and crime-solving is better in the first half, but the final payoff does not live up to expectations once the evil racket is revealed. It’s an international conspiracy that feels too easily solved.
Overall movie may follow familiar territory but remains watchable even when the story falters or takes unexpected detours. It greatly works because of the commanding presence of Rani Mukerji. It doesn’t offer anything new, it sticks to the basics and plays it safe, thereby delivering an engaging thriller. This is a film every woman should watch, not just for its message, but for the strength it portrays, the conversations it sparks, and the uncomfortable truths it forces us to confront. My view on this film Recommended if you have liked the previous parts of this franchise.
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