Mardaani 2 | A Bollywood Crime Thriller | Movie Review

When you work in so many commercial movies, you are often considered as a star rather than an actor. This perception is not 100% right. Late Rishi Kapoor once said something like this: when the actor is good looking it is often referred to as a poor actor and vice versa. That is an irony! Probably, he himself answered it in a different interview (in the context of fitness and bodybuilding for actors) that if you have a good body, you consciously or subconsciously will present it in an admirable way through your stance and gestures, and thus your expression sometimes take a backseat (mostly for viewers).

There are some actors (male and female both) who are accepted as a combination of both.

Rani Mukherjee has started as a typical Bollywood heroine and later had given some interesting performances. Since the last few years, the frequency of her movies is declined. And after her marriage and kid, she had given films through her home production only.

Adding to the list is her latest film Mardaani 2. There are no two-thoughts about the fact that it is made for her to show her talent and encash the success and hype created by Madaani, its previous installment. She got some positive accolades for portraying lady police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy.

There is nothing wrong in encashing the success of a movie and making a sequel of the same. In fact, movies are made as products and they must achieve the commercial success they deserve. The success of a movie help many people in earning their livelihood. The question for the viewer is, whether it is worth his/her money, and more importantly time?!

From our team let me share my personal and unbiased views for Mardaani – 2.

Let us take a bird’s eye view of the storyline of “Mardaani 2”.

Storyline:

Sunny, a young psychopath has problems with outspoken women. When he witnesses any such incident he tie a grudge against her and decides to punish her. In one such incident, he rapes and kills a free-willed girl. The way he lures her into the trap with his innocent look and thoughtful planning makes him even more dangerous.

Kota, being an education hub of India, is known for a large number of educational institutes. Students from various parts of the country come here to study and pursue their (mostly their parents’) dreams to have a great future. Such incident(s) in the city will make parents worried for their kids’ safety, and it is dangerous for the society anyway.

SP Shivani Roy is assigned a duty to catch the culprit. And, she was determined to fulfill her duty, as always.

Sunny is smarter than anyone can think of. He single-handedly develops a system to get the latest planning of Shivani and her team to catch him. He visits her official residence and challenges her!

Will Shivani be able to catch the culprit before he can make more damage to society? Well, you can guess the answer, but, to know how she achieves it, you need to watch the movie. It is available on various online streaming sites, so you can watch it at the comfort of your home, legally.

The movie is quite dark. So if you don’t like to watch brutalities on screen, you should not go for it. The movie, however, draws a fine line between vulgarity and brutalities. Be the rape scenes or the scenes where the culprit deforms the victims, they don’t show anything unnecessarily. Today, when a large number of makers believe in presenting skin show for titillation, abusive language and cuss words in the name of reality, and brutality in the name of thrilling moments, this movie has the things under control.

A movie cannot be found appealing even with foreign locations and fantastic performances if the storyline is weak. The script of the movie is tight and engaging (with a few flows). The locales are elaborated pretty nicely on the screen. Rather than showing visual splendor on screen, the makers chose to have realistic sets and locations. And, that works in favor of the movie.

From the first scene to the setup of the police station to the set up of the fun-fair to the victim’s hideout, everything is authentic and you will enjoy the detailing while watching it. The cameraman and his team require an appreciation for their work.

The background music plays a vital role, especially in thrillers where the scope of traditional Bollywood songs is almost non-existent. The background score of Mardaani 2 is quite in sync with the story. If you are watching it alone in the night, some scenes may create a horrifically thrilling impact.

In terms of performances, Rani Mukherjee dons the role of SP Shivani quite effectively. It is written for her giving her the maximum footage, obviously. And, she does her bits to justify it. It is Vishal Jethwa who is the scene-stealer in almost every scene he appears in. He has done some prominent roles in TV Serials, but, here his performance is par excellence. I often wonder why such talents don’t get more chances. In addition to scenes in which he commits a crime, see the scenes where he starts working at a tea-stall or keeps an eye on police work. And, when he challenges well connected and influential goons, he looks equally convincing.

In a pleasant surprise, all the supporting actors performed really well. Be it the senior colleague of Shivani (who changes his heart later and helps her) having his strong gender bias, or Shivani’s boss, who knows the practical ways to remain as a part of the system and doing his work. His guidance to Shivani is applicable in almost all areas of life.

There was a controversy associated with the movie regarding the depiction of a popular education which thankfully resolved on time.

The dialogs of the movie are simple yet interesting. In some scenes, you may find them quite melodramatic, but overall they are impactful. Gopi Puthran (dialog writer) has done a commendable job. The action scenes are realistic (it requires a special mention as these days we see a high does of SFX and VFX in action sequences, even when not needed).

Summary:

If you love watching crime thrillers and don’t mind dark thrillers, it is worth watching for the performances.

It would be interesting to know that some of the deleted scenes from the movie are available to watch for free on the official YouTube channel of the production house.

Over To You:

Did you watch the movie? Or Are you planning to watch it? Which part of the movie do you like the best? What is the most effective scene of the movie according to you? Is there anything you want to share about this movie or this article? Are you going to purchase it when available on DVD? Do not hesitate, go ahead and leave your comments below. And yes, do not forget to share this article with your friends over various social networks via Twitter, Facebook and others. And yes, you may like to subscribe to our RSS feeds and follow us on various Social networks to get the latest updates for the site to land right in your mail box.