Mardaani

'Mardaani' Directed by the talented Pradeep Sarkar, is A Crisp, Intense Crime-Drama, that is Well-Written, Superbly Directed & Brilliantly Acted. The film comes as a pleasant surprise & ranks among the better films of 2014, yet.

'Mardaani' Synopsis: A cop's search for a missing teenage girl leads her to the depraved world of child trafficking. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game between the fearless cop and a ruthless mafia kingpin.

'Mardaani' has a power-packed first-hour, with each sequence leaving an impact. The cat-and-mouse game between the fearless cop & the ruthless mafia kingpin is grasping, although the second-hour slows down a bit. What makes 'Mardaani' work prominently, is its raw approach & the brisk pacing, which keeps its spectator glued to the screen.

Gopi Puthran's Screenplay is fabulous. Its gritty, intense & fast. However, the climatic moments aren't too effective. Pradeep Sarkar's Direction is simply superb. He's in command this time around. Cinematography is top-class. Editing is balanced. Action-Sequences are raw.

Performance-Wise: Rani Mukherji is in terrific form. She enacts the cop with rage & intensity. She leads the film with a yet another stellar performance! Tahir Bhasin is tremendous as the chief villain. He handles his part with utmost conviction. Anil George is absolutely brilliant in a small, yet frightening role. Jisshu Sengupta is sincere. Others lend admirable support.

On the whole, 'Mardaani' packs a solid punch! Strongly Recommended!

Mardaani is a brilliant movie, and especially so because it comes in a time so crowded by the larger-than-life police cop, who is way beyond falling into physics of regular procedurals. The casting is picture perfect, and the dialogs, not crispy, but suited well. I appreciate the fact that they didn't push in any songs (except for one song in the end in the background, but that is acceptable), and the movie respects intellect and reality (lending it an 'adult' rating). The whole negative cast of the film is so well cast, (partly because its from a real life story), that I couldn't take my eyes off. Its a recommended movie, (and definitely a better watch than the Expendibles.) and I am happy that people have sensibilities in them to make meaningful cinema.

Mardaani is a movie that despite an unimaginative plot and predictable narrative engrosses you in its fabric. Rani Mukerji is pitch perfect in the role of a super-cop that is rightly hued, far from the floss and swagger of Chulbul Pandey and Singham. She is real, gritty and every bit brilliant. Though the film's climax loses itself in melodrama, this is a film that has its heart in the right place and tells a pertinent story at a time when it must be heard.

Rani Mukerji with no make up, stern face maintains her strong demeanor. The actress is non dramatic on purpose and that did the trick for me. She is far from the pomp and show of masala cop films and that subtlety blows your mind. I am ecstatic that the lady has returned in a role that does justice to her caliber.

Tahir Bhasin is a revelation and quite interestingly lives up to Rani's stature. The chase between him and Rani is built brilliantly mostly because of his conviction in rendering such brilliance to his character. His diction and twang both blend in well drawing one's attention even further.

Nowadays when the so-called superstars of bollywood (Salman, Akshay, SRK etc) make such mindless & nonsensical movies in the name of leave-your- brains-at-home comedies (like Kick & Ready & Dabang & Entertainment & what not), Mardaani is a refreshing change.

I am not saying that it's a gem or the best movie out there but it is good. It has a good (although not many twists or turns) story, powerful acting by Rani and the supporting cast, no out-of-context songs and very nice ending.

I see a trend that Bollywood heroines are trying to come up with good movies like Kangana in Queen, Revolver Rani; Priyanka in Mary Kom, Fashion; Vidya in Kahani, No one killed Jessica etc where as the 40+ year old "heroes" are still stuck in the 90s; churning out stupid movies where the girl is mainly for songs. I don't have a problem with those kind of movies too if they are decent; which many aren't. I love a good comedy or action movie as much as I enjoy a serious one. But the movies made by the male "superstars" are not even funny or entertaining; though surprisingly, those movies are in the 200 crore etc club.

I hope we as an audience start to appreciate some diversity that movies like Mardaani portray.

Mardaani is a good film released at the right moment.

I say that because of the high proportion of news about rape and sexual assault and attacks on women in the national newspapers in India. Pradeep Sarkar succeeds in retelling the acclaimed Hollywood story (Liam Neeson's Taken) of how an officer single-handedly taken on the traders of flesh. He charms the audience by filling all holes that would've crept up had it been a poorly researched film, like all other recent Bollywood films are.

Here in, we have inspector Shivani (Rani Mukherji) who uses her manliness to search and kill the young boy, a flesh trade kingpin who kidnapped and sold her adopted child into overseas sex rackets. There are chiefly two villains in the film, both of which are good. But I am awestruck by nobody Tahir Bhasin's brilliant performance as the vindictive boss who speaks like he was a born criminal. His air, his diction, his portrayal - all upped my ante in cinema-watching experience. Come climax, this same villain goes through a paradigm shift and seems to have lost all his qualities, which drives the predictability ahead.

But I am not complaining because the 2 hours were never boring. Plus, since it conveys a message that women should stand up with a touch of power for their rights hits the right chord with the large number of women that were present in the theater hall.

Coming to the cuss language, I didn't mind it because it was a necessary component. Mukherji is good, as well. The supporting cast is fine. The title track is surely to hit the charts.

BOTTOM LINE: One of the very few watchable films in 2014 Bollywood, Mardaani is an unexpected treat. If you have 2 hours to spare this weekend, go watch it and come home entertained.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES (You should!)