Mardaani is written by Gopi Puthran and directed by Pradeep Sarkar

The most intriguing thing about Mardaani is its title. It sounds very women-power oriented. 

 

And it fits perfectly well with the theme of the movie. Rani Mukherjee plays Shivani Roy, a tough as nails cop from Mumbai. She is sent on a special mission to Delhi, where a flesh trade racket is taking place. She figures this entire trade, and makes a plan to finish it off. This gets her in the crosshairs of the antagonist of the film, a mysterious young boy, who is the kingpin of this business. Nobody knows his name or his whereabouts. People only follow his orders. There is a twist in the tale though. This entire case has a bearing with Shivani’s past. Will a ghost from her past come back to haunt her, and jeopardize the case? Or will she get the better of this mysterious operator?

 

 

Rani Mukherjee makes her comeback with Mardaani Movie, and we must say, this role suits her to the ‘T’. She looks convincing as the uncompromising cop. Who would have imagined a few years back, that pretty as a petal Rani Mukherjee will go all Dabangg on us.

 

She apparently prepared a lot for this role. She shed around 14 kilos to look the part of a fit cop. Not only this, she tried a lot of looks for this role before finally zeroing on this one.

 

This movie is directed by Pradeep Sarkar, who has by now mastered the art of making female oriented films. The director, who made his debut with Parineeta (2005) has since gone on and made movies like Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2007) and Lafangey Parindey (2010), none of which worked at the box office. That might just propel Sarkar to do his best work yet.

 

Gopi Puthran has written this film, which is loosely based on real events. Gopi Puthran is also the brain behind the title of the movie, apparently.

 

The most intriguing part about this movie, however, is the antagonist of the movie. He has been fiercely protected from the media, by the makers so far. This might be a good strategy, to just keep him off the radar. This will maintain the buzz around the movie and his role. Especially since in the movie he is shown to be playing a mysterious character, whose whereabouts nobody really knows.

 

It will be interesting to see how Rani Mukherjee approaches her role though, and whether she looks convincing enough as a daredevil cop. Also, we will have to wait and watch the audience’s reaction to this film. The audience has been receptive to female oriented films this year. We will have to see whether it laps up this film with open arms too, or not. 

 

Needless to say this film is crucial to Rani Mukherjee’s career. Opinions are split about her. Whilst many people consider her past her prime, her loyal fans believe she still has a lot to offer. This film will be an acid test for her, and instrumental in deciding her future.

Mardaani opens on 22nd August.