Mardaani
| Mardaani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Pradeep Sarkar |
| Produced by | Aditya Chopra |
| Written by | Gopi Puthran |
| Starring |
Rani Mukerji Tahir Raj Bhasin Jisshu Sengupta |
| Music by |
Songs: Salim-Sulaiman Background score: Julius Packiam[1] |
| Cinematography | Artur Zurawski |
| Edited by | Sanjib Datta |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Yash Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹210 million[2] |
| Box office | ₹567 million[2] |
Mardaani (English: Masculinity) is a 2014 Indian crime thriller film that deals with the problem of human-trafficking in India, directed by Pradeep Sarkar and produced by Aditya Chopra.[3] The film stars Rani Mukerji in the lead role, with Jisshu Sengupta and Tahir Raj Bhasin appearing in supporting roles.The plot of the movie is slightly inspired from Malayalam movie Thira and Hollywood movie Taken.[4]
The film tells the story of a policewoman whose interest in the case of a kidnapped teenage girl leads her to uncover secrets of human trafficking by the Indian mafia.[5]
Plot
Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji), a dedicated and brave police officer with Mumbai Police, chases a Delhi-based kingpin, Karan Rastogi (Tahir Raj Bhasin), who runs an organised crime cartel involving child trafficking and drugs. Her aim is to hunt him down and rescue a teenage girl, Pyaari. Pyaari is an orphan who is kidnapped by Karan's men. Shivani had saved Pyaari from being sold by her uncle and started taking care of her, and since then Pyaari is like a daughter to her. She takes the task more personally and goes beyond her legal rights and duties to nab Karan and save Pyaari. Karan, aware that Shivani is continually monitoring his cartel's activities, phones her, suggesting she not interrupt his business. Determined to catch him, Shivani uses intelligence inputs to track down his associate in Mumbai, who leads her to Karan's close aide, Wakeel, in Delhi. Karan, as a warning to Shivani, dismembers one of Pyaari's fingers and sends it to Shivani's house wrapped in a gift box, and gets Shivani's husband abused and thrashed.
Shivani travels to Delhi and sets up a trap involving decoy drug dealers from Nigeria, who pretend to offer very expensive rare South American cocaine to Karan and Wakeel. As the decoy drug dealers are negotiating the deal with Wakeel, Shivani barges in with other police officers and intercepts the area. While Karan escapes, Wakeel realises he'll get arrested, which means the police would interrogate him and eventually capture Karan. He therefore tries to erase evidence by destroying his mobile phone's SIM card, then shoots himself.
Shivani's continued investigation and the information from her sources leads her to Karan's house, where Karan's mother sedates her. Shivani is abducted and brought to a party organised by Karan. There, she meets Pyaari; Pyaari and the other girls are forced to work as prostitutes. Shivani singlehandedly confronts the situation, forcing Karan into a small room and rescuing and taking the girls with her. She challenges Karan to fight her when he teases her for being a woman and beats him badly. Sensing that he might escape the law, given the corruption in the police and judicial system, she hands Karan over to the girls, who beat him to death. His other gang members are arrested and prosecuted.
Cast
- Rani Mukerji as Shivani Shivaji Roy[6]
- Tahir Raj Bhasin as Walt aka Karan Rastogi[6]
- Jisshu Sengupta as Dr. Bikram Roy (in a special appearance)
- Anant Vidhaat Sharma as Sunny Katyal[7]
- Priyanka Sharma as Pyaari
- Prashant Sutar as Mushtaq
- Akhilesh Verma as Police
- Vikrant Koul as Inspector Mathur
- Mikhail Yawalkar as Balwinder Singh Sodhi
- Avneet Kaur as Meera
- Saanand Verma as Kapil
- Sadiq Raja as Mattoo
- Mona Ambegaonkar as Meenu Rastogi
- Anil George as Vakil
- Rohit Soans as Sona
- Mahika Sharma as victim
- Aman Uppal as Mattoo
- Rio Kapadia as Sinha, Jt CP
- Sanjay Taneja as Minister Tanejaji
- Ashish Warang as More
- D.V. Vivek as Iyer, Jt CP
- Eddie Teel as Mbangwa
- Digvijay Rohildas as Jafar
- Sharika Raina as Alka
- Peter Manuel as Mboso
- Gautam Babbar as Tandon
- Probir Dutt as Rok
- Kinjal Jain as Runa
Development and production
In January 2014, Rani Mukerji who plays the role of a crime branch officer in the film met Mumbai Police Crime Branch chief as part of research for her role.[8] It was speculated that her role was inspired by IPS officer Meera Borwankar, who was also an investigation officer in the Mumbai 26/11 case.[9] For her role, Mukerji trained in Krav Maga, a street-fighting, self-defence system developed for the Israeli military. It was directed by Pradeep Sarkar and written by Gopi Puthran.[10] The cinematographer for the movie was Polish Artur Zurawski.[11]
Soundtrack
| # | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mardaani Anthem" | Sunidhi Chauhan | 05:04 |
Release and marketing
The official trailer of the film was released on 24 June 2014.[12] The Central Board of Film Certification required that the use of a profanity and scene depicting rape of a teenage girl be removed from the trailer.[13]
Because of the film's social message and the impact it can provide to Indian women, the film has been given tax free status in Madhya Pradesh by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in its first week of release.[14] This was followed by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra also giving the film a tax free status.
In Pakistan, Central Board of Film Censors gave the film adult Certificate but objected on few scenes. The Board asked for seven cuts and wanted certain scenes to be blurred but the film makers were of the view that "it would lead to loss of the essence of the narration of the movie" and hence decided not to screen the movie in Pakistan.[15]
Mardaani premiered in Poland at Warsaw's Kino Muranow theatre, one of the oldest art house theatres in the country on 29 January 2015. The film received a standing ovation from the audience and Rani Mukerji was congratulated by one and all for her exceptional performance and for being a part of such a relevant and sensitive film.[16]
Critical reception
Mid Day gave Mardaani 4 stars and said that Pradeep Sarkar offers a pragmatic and compelling story of what it is to chase down the bad guy with Rani Mukerji at her mercurial best as an inspector who simply won't give up. They have also appreciated the supporting cast saying they have been justifiably cast.[17]Subhash K. Jha of SKJ Bollywood News gave the film four stars, praising the use of the film's soundtrack, saying "Mardaani cleans out the noises and yet retains a high decibel of authenticity in the complementary relationship between sight and sound".[18] In a review by Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama stated "enacting the part of the tough-talking cop who goes in pursuit of those who run the sex trafficking ring, Rani strikes a true to life, forceful pose and also lends her character the much-needed intensity, strength and dignity. The agony that drives her forward is visible on her face and is one of the prime reasons that makes this story easy to swallow."[19]
Box office
Koimoi states that Mardaani's net collections of Rs. crores 40.00 was double of the amount invested in the film.[20]
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| IIFA Awards | Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated |
| Filmfare Awards | Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated |
| Best Supporting Actor | Tahir Raj Bhasin | Nominated | |
| Best Sound Design | Anilkumar Konakandla and Prabal Pradhan | Won | |
| Screen Awards | Best Villain | Tahir Raj Bhasin | Won |
| Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated | |
| Star Guild Awards | Best Actress | Rani Mukerji | Nominated |
| Best Villain | Tahir Raj Bhasin | Nominated | |
| Stardust Awards | Best Thriller – Action Actress | Rani Mukerji | Won |
| BIG Star Entertainment Awards | Most Entertaining Film Actor – Female | Rani Mukerji | Nominated |
| Most Entertaining Actress in a Social Role | Nominated | ||
| Most Entertaining Actor in a Thriller Role | Nominated |
References
- ↑ YRF (24 June 2014). "Mardaani - Trailer - Rani Mukerji" – via YouTube.
- 1 2 "Mardaani - Movie - Worldwide Gross & Budget". Box Office India. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ↑ "Rani gets YRF's boldest film 'Mardaani'". MNS India. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ↑ "Mardaani: Randi Mukerji signs Aditya Chopra's next film". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ↑ "Rani Mukherji in Mardaani, Yash Raj Films' boldest movie ever". NDTV. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- 1 2 "MARDAANI – Rani Mukerji – In cinemas 22 August". Mardaani.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ↑ "Review on Mardaani by fenil seta MouthShut.com". Retrieved 2016-07-20.
- ↑ "Rani Mukerji meets crime branch chief to prepare for 'Mardaani' role". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140907151158/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Rani-Mukerji-meets-real-Mardaani-who-inspired-her/articleshow/41686460.cms. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Rotten Tomatoes Mardaani website. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mardaani/
- ↑ Artur Zurwawski website. http://www.arturzurawski.com/films/fiction/
- ↑ "Mardaani trailer: Rani Mukerji packs a punch with dialogues, tough look". The Times of India. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ↑ "Rani Mukerjis Mardaani Policed by Censor Board – NDTV Movies". NDTVMovies.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ↑ "Mardaani trailer: Rani Mukerji packs a punch with dialogues, tough look". Daily Business Recorder. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ↑ "Pakistan Censor Board bans Rani Mukerji's 'Mardaani' in Pakistan". IBN Live. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ "Rani Mukerji's Mardaani Premieres in Poland To Rave Reviews". BusinessofCinema News Network. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
- ↑ "Movie review: 'Mardaani'". mid-day. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ↑ "Mardaani: Movie Review". SKJBollywood News. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ↑ Bollywood Hungama. "Mardaani – Latest Hindi Movie Review by Taran Adarsh – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywoodhungama.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ↑ "Box-Office Verdicts of Major Bollywood Releases of 2014". Koimoi.com. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
External links
- Mardaani at the Internet Movie Database