Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) is a senior inspector with the Crime Branch department. She is a tough cop, who is unforgiving on criminals, and has established her own style of investigation thanks to her fearless attitude. Pyaari, an orphan girl, is kidnapped one day and so Shivani steps in to investigate this case and very soon, she realizes that there is a big human trafficking mafia behind this kidnapping.

During the investigation, Shivani comes to know that Karan (Tahir Bhasin) is the king of this mafia and challenges him that she will arrest him within 30 days. The rest of ‘Mardaani’ is about rescuing Pyaari and winning her challenge.

The first half of the film is a little slow-paced as it takes time to kick-start the actual drama. As it is already known that ‘Mardaani’ deals with human trafficking, it becomes a predictable plot to an extent. Rani Mukerji carried the first half of the film with her stunning performance which ends on a decent note.

The second half of the film is quite gripping thanks to the investigation sequences that keep the audience engaged. The twist in the pre-climax is good while the conversations between Rani and Tahir are one of the major highlights of the film. While the climax sequence has been designed well, the director could have easily avoided the fight sequence.

The biggest plus point of ‘Mardaani’ are the performances of each and every character in the film. Coming to Rani Mukherji, she has made a powerful comeback as a tough cop and one can say that she has given a career-best performance with this film. Rani’s emotions, stunt scenes, dialogue delivery and other aspects ensure that the character of Shivani Shivaji Roy is etched out perfectly. Debutante Tahir Bhasin gives an excellent performance as the film’s baddie. His looks, manner of dialogue delivery and emotions sum up to make him the perfect handsome villain and he definitely will make it big in Bollywood. Needless to say, each and every actor in the film gave their best with their performances.

The dialogues of the film are huge plus since they elevate this film to a higher level. The dialogue writer of this film has to be definitely credited as he succeeded in providing good dialogues. Artur Zurawski’s cinematography is decent. While there are no songs in the film, the back ground score is apt. The editor has supported the director in making the film move in a crisp manner. Director Pradeep Sarkar has taken a regular subject, but narrated it in a gripping manner. He should be credited for extracting good performances from all his actors and he has definitely showed the other side of Rani as a powerful cop.

Final Word:

On the whole, Mardaani is an out and out Rani Mukherji film and her performance as a fearless cop definitely keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Barring a few brutal scenes, the film’s gripping narration and the performances make this film a must watch.