When the nation is livid over crimes against women, be it Hyderabad or Unnao, you get a perfect opportunity to address the wrongs in the society with a movie. However, in terms of execution, ‘Mardaani 2’ fells a tad bit short of delivering an effective solution to the current problem of increasing crimes against women in the society.
Directed by Gopi Puthran, ‘Mardaani 2’ is the sequel to ‘Mardaani’, which released in 2014 and emerged to be a clean hit. The film stars Rani Mukherji in lead role, followed by actors like Vishal Jethwa, Shruti Bapna, Bikram Singh Chauhan etc. in supporting roles.
Plot –
Following a sickening increase in the ghastly rapes and murders of young girls in Kota, IPS officer Shivani Shivaji Roy is called to Kota, famous for the infinite coaching institutes situated here. Daredevil and no nonsense to the core, Shivani Shivaji Roy fights her battle on many fronts, until she crosses her path with Sunny, the perpetrator behind most of the crimes. How Shivani overcomes this beast roaming on the streets of Kota and brings him to justice forms the crux of the plot.
What’s Good –
Mardaani is a gripping drama that has its own moments. While some may view it from the point of cashing in on the sentiments of the Indians angered at the spate of rape crimes increasing in India, it is a movie that also tries to delve into the root causes of such crimes. Unlike other movies, Mardaani 2 is an intense movie that attempts to be a no nonsense drama, not straying a bit from the core issue. The way the crimes have been portrayed in the movie will leave a sickening churn in your stomach for sure, long after the movie has even ended.
In terms of acting, the movie packs a solid punch. Rani Mukherji delivers a great performance as the no nonsense cop Shivani Shivaji Roy. Despite the character underwritten, she refuses to let the viewer waver their gaze for even a moment. As Shivani Shivaji Roy, Rani Mukherji sends a powerful message of finding solutions to the problem instead of cribbing about it.
While the supporting cast was okay in their part, the biggest surprise of this movie was Vishal Jethwa, who played the role of the antagonist. As the Sunny, he is probably one of the most sickening characters you would’ve ever witnessed, almost close to what Ashutosh Rana did in some of his films in the 90s. The way he makes a cruel spectacle of his victims is something that is strictly not for the faint-hearted. While describing the character of menacing beast that Sunny is would reveal many plot points, we can say one thing for sure: This beast refuses to take ‘No’ for answer, and would go to extremely ghastly levels to prove his point.
What Could’ve Been Better –
However, despite the intense premise and the gory sequences, Mardaani 2 is far from being labeled as a masterpiece. The chief reason behind the same is the occasion when the director steps over the fine line that demarcates the two regions of what needs to be told and what needs to be imposed. In some occasions, Mardaani 2 tries too hard not to be preachy and fails miserably, something which ‘Section 375’ had carefully avoided, as they dealt with the much more sensitive case of false rape cases.
To sum it up, Mardaani 2 is a good movie that had its own share of hits and misses. Had it not been for the slippery moments in between, the film would’ve gone places. Yet, Mardaani is a good one time watch, and we’d rate this as 2.5/5 stars.