‘Mardaani 3’ Review: Rani Mukerji Gritty Return Stumbles After a Power-Packed Start

January 31, 2026 – Rani Mukerji is back in uniform as the indomitable Shivani Shivaji Roy, but the third installment of the Mardaani franchise arrives with a heavy burden of expectation. Released yesterday, January 30, the film directed by Abhiraj Minawala attempts to tackle the dark underbelly of child trafficking and the begging mafia. While it opens with the trademark intensity fans have come to love, the narrative unfortunately loses its grip in the latter half.

A Strong First Act

The film wastes no time diving into the horrors of organized crime. Now working with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi, Shivani is tasked with finding a diplomat’s daughter and a domestic worker’s child, both kidnapped from a farmhouse in Bulandshahr.

The first hour is a masterclass in tension. Rani Mukerji, celebrating 30 years in the industry, delivers a performance that is both weathered and fierce. She anchors the film with a “main-character energy” that reminds us why Shivani Roy is one of Bollywood’s most iconic modern cops. The introduction of the antagonist, Amma (Mallika Prasad), is equally chilling. As the queen of a beggar mafia, Prasad brings a terrifying, grounded realism to the screen, promising a battle of wits and wills.

The Mid-Movie Slump

However, as the story crosses the interval mark, the “steam” begins to evaporate. The screenplay by Aayush Gupta takes a sharp, somewhat bizarre turn away from the gritty reality of the streets into a convoluted plot involving foreign conspiracies and medical lab experiments.

• Predictable Tropes: The narrative falls into the trap of over-writing. Characters become mouthpieces for social messages rather than living, breathing entities.
• The Villain Problem: Despite a strong start, Mallika Prasad’s Amma is eventually sidelined for a secondary male antagonist (played by Prajesh Kashyap), diluting the “woman vs. woman” conflict that was the film’s initial hook.
• Familiarity Fatigue: While fans of the franchise will enjoy Shivani’s heroic monologues and hand-to-hand combat, critics argue that the formula is starting to feel repetitive.

The Verdict

Mardaani 3 is a “paisa vasool” (value for money) entertainer for die-hard Rani fans, but as a piece of cinema, it lacks the surgical precision of its predecessors. Supporting acts by Janki Bodiwala as a young constable and Jisshu Sengupta as Shivani’s supportive husband provide some emotional texture, yet they can’t quite save the film from its sagging second half.

At the box office, the film opened to a modest ₹3.8 crore, trailing behind the opening of Mardaani 2. While it remains a necessary watch for its social relevance, one can’t help but feel that Shivani Shivaji Roy deserved a sharper, more focused script for her latest outing.