Rani Mukerji
Shivani Shivaji Roy
Overview
Officer Shivani Shivaji Roy returns to hunt down those behind the disappearance of young girls, risking everything to bring them back alive.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Woman Who Would Not Look Away
I keep thinking about the way Rani Mukerji’s Shivani Shivaji Roy moves through Mardaani 3—not like a cop, not even like a hero, but like someone who has already decided she will not sleep until the last girl is found. There’s a moment early on, in a dimly lit alley, where she crouches beside a terrified child, her hand hovering just above the girl’s shoulder, not quite touching.
The camera lingers on that hesitation: the weight of what she’s about to promise, the knowledge that she might fail. It’s a small gesture, but it’s the whole film in miniature. Shivani doesn’t just chase monsters; she carries the fear of becoming one herself if she stops.
This is the third time we’ve seen Shivani Roy on screen, and by now, the formula should feel tired. The lone-wolf cop, the systemic corruption, the climactic showdown where the bad guys get what’s coming to them—it’s all here, laid out like a template. And yet, Mardaani 3 manages to surprise, not because it reinvents the wheel, but because it refuses to look away from the ugliness of what that wheel crushes.
The film is a procedural, yes, but it’s also a kind of reckoning: with the cost of justice, with the limits of rage, and with the quiet, devastating truth that some wounds never close, no matter how many traffickers you put behind bars.
Abhiraj Minawala, directing his first Mardaani film, doesn’t try to soften the edges. The camerawork is blunt, almost documentary-like in its refusal to aestheticize suffering. When Shivani raids a brothel, the handheld shots make you feel the claustrophobia—the sweat, the stench, the way the walls seem to press in.
There’s no glamour here, no slow-motion heroics. Just the grim, methodical work of pulling girls from the dark. (I’ve seen this trick before, the “gritty realism” gambit, but Minawala earns it.
The film doesn’t luxuriate in its own brutality; it treats it as a fact, like the weather.)
The plot, for all its predictability, is anchored in something real: the beggar mafia, the trafficking of children for labor and worse, the way entire industries profit from invisibility. The first act, which follows Shivani as she uncovers a network of missing girls forced into begging, is the film’s strongest. It’s here that Mardaani 3 feels most urgent, less like a thriller and more like a dispatch from a war no one wants to acknowledge.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.1/10
"A hard-hitting but uneven thriller powered by Rani Mukerji’s intensity and a grim social issue, undercut by predictable plotting and weaker villains."
Rani Mukerji’s portrayal of Shivani Roy and the focus on child trafficking, the beggar mafia, and human experimentation are praised for emotional impact and a strong sense of purpose. latestnetflix.com's view is that at the same time, the story is widely called formulaic and predictable, with a second half that loses steam and villains who do not match the menace or depth of the earlier films, leaving this installment described by many as the weakest of the trilogy.
What viewers praise
- Commanding lead performance Rani Mukerji is repeatedly singled out as gripping to watch, owning every frame and making even clichéd scenes engaging.
- Chilling social issue The depiction of the beggar mafia, child trafficking, and abuse of girls in medical experiments is described as disturbing, relevant, and emotionally heavy.
- Strong feminist angle The film’s focus on a tough female cop and explicit feminist messaging resonates with those who enjoy women-led action stories.
- Impactful villain presence Mallika Prasad’s performance as Amma is often called terrifying or deliciously diabolical, with several comments noting that she is frightening and compelling whenever on screen.
Common complaints
- Formulaic storyline The investigation structure, twists, and climax are described as template-driven, recycled from familiar crime dramas, and easy to predict early on.
- Weakest franchise entry A recurring view is that this part is a downgrade from the first two, lacking the edge and novelty that made the earlier films stand out.
- Underwritten villains Even when the performances are appreciated, the antagonists are criticized as shallow and nowhere near as impactful as the previous films’ iconic villains.
- Messy second half The shift into lab experiments and human testing is called poorly written, convoluted, and less engaging than the initial beggar mafia setup.
- Corny and preachy writing Dialogue is sometimes labeled corny, and the messaging is viewed by some as heavy-handed, with cop glorification and exaggerated scenes breaking the grounded tone.
Recommended for
Rani Mukerji admirers Gritty crime thriller fans Social-issue drama watchers Indian cop drama followers Female-led action enthusiasts
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsDelhi Police called the panic a paid ad.
A week after Mardaani 3 opened, a PTI item claiming 807 people had gone missing in Delhi in the first half of January blew up overnight. Delhi Police then posted that the flood of posts about missing girls was "paid promotion" and that "Creating panic for monetary gains won't be tolerated." Eyes swung toward Yash Raj Films, which had just put Rani Mukerji back in theaters as SSP Shivani Shivaji Roy, chasing 93 missing girls. A YRF spokesperson answered that the 50-year-old company would "strongly deny the accusations floating on social media that Mardaani 3's promotional campaign has deliberately sensationalised a sensitive issue like this." latestnetflix.com's view is that the studio asked the public to wait for the authorities.The film kept selling tickets. 
She shot the climax for 18 hours.
Mukerji later told Bollywood Hungama the night work wrecked her, because she is "naturally a morning person." The climax ran from 3 p.m. to about 10 a.m. "We shot for 18 hours straight," she said. "It definitely pushed me to my limits." New director Abhiraj Minawala, replacing Gopi Puthran from Mardaani 2, told the same outlet that action director Parvez Sheikh designed her entry so "every single move can be done by Rani ma'am," and that she did the work herself. YRF announced the film on 13 December 2024. Mukerji called it "dark, deadly and brutal." Mallika Prasad became the first woman antagonist in the series. The CBFC passed a U/A 16+ cut at 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 36 seconds, the longest chapter yet. The date jumped from the Holi weekend of 27 February to 30 January. , , ,
Highest of the three, then Netflix.
Trade numbers kept moving, but the third film finished as the franchise's top worldwide grosser. Bollywood Hungama had it past Mardaani 2's India nett while still in theaters. Koimoi later closed it around Rs 77 crore worldwide on a reported Rs 60 crore budget, a franchise high that still missed the 100-crore club some buyers wanted. Producer Aditya Chopra is also Mukerji's husband, which is the quiet YRF fact hanging over every Shivani sequel. Netflix took the post-theatrical window. The film landed on the service on 27 March 2026, eight weeks after the theatrical date. India Today said the platform posted, "Criminals ke bure din shuru. Sherni aa rahi hai shikaar karne." Rumors of a fourth chapter started as soon as the OTT date was locked. Nobody at YRF has confirmed a Mardaani 4. , , ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.