Mardaani Review – Purposeful In a Subtle Way

Rating:

Mardaani is a no-nonsense, sans frills film that within minutes of its commencement comes straight to the heart of the matter, which over here is child sex trafficking. Rani Mukerji plays Shivani Shivaji Roy, a senior inspector of the Crime Branch, Mumbai Police, who takes upon herself to track down her daughter-like flower girl, Pyari (Priyanka Sharma), who has gone missing. She is confronted by Walt (Tahir Bhasin), who manages the child sex trafficking business. However, Shivani is not only shrewd but also knows how to play it cool. It is not as much a matter of whether or not Shivani manages to rescue Pyari as much as how she goes about achieving it. Obviously, she has a trick or two up her sleeve which she uses to good advantage.

To be absolutely honest, Mardaani isn’t overly melodramatic and displays great restraint in not succumbing to the all too familiar ploy of introducing songs which only go so far as to disrupt the flow of the narrative. The film endeavours to convey a social message in a subtle manner. Those expecting an adrenalin-pumping fare will be disappointed, as much of the film is played out at a somewhat relaxed pace devoid of excessive action. Probably, the filmmakers wanted to go easy on the scenes depicting abuse inflicted against children by their captors, and hence what the viewer sees onscreen may not reflect the actual extent of trauma that the girls kidnapped for child sex trafficking have to go through in real life. Maybe the filmmakers didn’t want to antagonize the censor board or maybe they just didn’t want to be too realistic in their approach lest their commercial venture tends to look more like a documentary.

Either way, as a viewer you will have to find solace in what is offered. Having said that, there is a lot to look forward to on the acting front. Rani Mukherjee gives us a stellar performance as the calm and collected Shivani, who even in the face of adversity is seldom flustered. With her husky voice and tomboyish persona, she is the perfect actress to play the part of a daredevil cop. Equal credit is due to two other actors, namely, Priyanka Sharma and Tahir Bhasin. The vulnerability that one would expect to see in a young flower girl who has been kidnapped is portrayed immaculately by Priyanka Sharma. As for Tahir Bhasin, he plays a fitting adversary to Rani Mukerji’s character, displaying the same grittiness and nonchalance.

All said and done, Mardaani doesn’t disappoint you at all. Of course, it could have been much more hard-hitting had the filmmakers turned up the heat a notch or two. But not going for a risqué approach and playing it safe seemed like an obvious choice in order to stay clear of any controversy.