Mardaani 2 (transl. Masculine 2) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written and directed by Gopi Puthran. It is produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. A sequel to the 2014 film Mardaani, the film stars Rani Mukerji in the lead role alongside Vishal Jethwa, and Jisshu Sengupta. The plot follows a police officer, Shivani Shivaji Roy's attempts to catch a 21 year old rapist and murderer.
Mardaani 2 was announced on 10 December 2018.[5] Filming began in March 2019 and was extensively filmed in Rajasthan.[6] The first look of the film was released in April 2019 with the release date announced in September 2019.[7][1]
The film was released on 13 December 2019 to positive response from critics, with praise towards its screenplay, pace, direction and performances (particularly those of Mukerji and Jethwa).[8] The film performed successfully at the box office and earned a worldwide gross of ₹67.12 crore (US$7.9 million).[9] A sequel titled Mardaani 3 was announced on 13 December 2024 and will release in 2026.[10]
Plot
In Kota, Rajasthan, a 21-year-old psychopath named Sunny kidnaps a young outspoken woman named Latika. He brutally tortures, rapes, and then murders her. Shivani Shivaji Roy, who has been appointed as the new Superintendent of Police of Kota, arrives at the crime scene and clashes with her misogynistic subordinate DSP Brij Shekhawat. The brutality of Latika's murder disturbs Shivani and makes her more determined to catch the killer.
Sunny, who has actually come to Kota from Meerut on a killing contract given by politician Govind Mishra a.k.a. Panditji, sees Shivani on TV when she publicly promises to find Latika's killer. He taunts Shivani by sneaking into her home and stealing her sari. He then dresses up as a woman, tricks a journalist named Kamal Parihar, and kills him; he also hires Pravin, a tea-seller near the police station, to kill the journalist's wife, Aabha Parihar, in a suicide blast, then takes Pravin's place as tea-seller to keep an eye on Shivani, introducing himself as a mute boy named Bajrang.
When Shivani brings in Lahanya, a child from the slums who had witnessed the blast, Sunny kills him. Following the media uproar on the failure of the police to catch the murderer, Shivani is set to be transferred from Kota. As the new investigating officer will take charge after two days, Shivani, along with her fellow officers, decide to catch Sunny within that time. Shivani makes peace with Shekhawat since his network of informers is very strong in the city, and he leads them to his contact, who reveals that the real mastermind behind Kamal Parihar's murder is a youth politician named Viplav Beniwal. Shivani arrests Beniwal's right-hand man Kunwar and tortures him into revealing Sunny's whereabouts. Sunny kidnaps another outspoken woman but the police track him down. They discover his victim already raped and tortured, but merely alive, and manage to save her.
Sunny, posing as Bajrang, gets a lift from Shivani. Before he can strangle her, Shivani stops him, having realized that Bajrang is Sunny. The two fight but Sunny escapes. The police find a video of Sunny taken by a bystander, and Shivani has it made viral across social media. Sunny kidnaps Panditji's granddaughter Priyanka and threatens to kill her unless Shivani apologizes to him. Shivani and the police manage to save the girl. Shekhawat mends his ways and agrees to help Shivani. Shivani discovers that Sunny's next target is the female politician Sunanda. That night, amidst the Diwali celebrations, Shivani and her team search for him. She discovers him in the house of a local couple, having taken their daughter and Sunanda hostage. Shivani is knocked unconscious and tied up.
When she wakes up, Sunny is strangling Sunanda; to distract him, Shivani talks about his mother and his past, which she learned from Sunny's father, who is imprisoned in Meerut. As a child, Sunny's father had tried to murder his mother, who had been an outspoken woman. Out of fear, Sunny's mother tried hiding behind a terrace, but Sunny told his father where she was hiding; his father then killed her. The guilt and trauma of his mother's death has since caused Sunny to become unhinged and take that anger out on other similarly confident women.
Shivani signals Sunanda and the other hostage to toss the nearby buckets of paint on Sunny, as he is asthmatic. She then gains the upper hand, beating Sunny with his own belt. She kicks him outside and continues beating him as the neighbourhood gathers to watch.
The film's opening day nett domestic collection was ₹3.80 crore. In the next two days, it earned nett ₹6.55 crore and ₹7.80 crore respectively. It grossed ₹67.12 in worldwide areas, consisting of ₹56.63 crore (Indian gross) and ₹10.49 crore (overseas gross).[9]
Critical response
The film was received positive reviews from critics alike. Times of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars describing Mukerji as "the force behind this gritty drama".[17]Hindustan Times said that "Rani Mukerji steals the show in a soul-stirring and well timed thriller".[18]NDTV gave the film 3 out of 5 stars calling Mukerji as ''Good As Ever In This Cop-On-A Mission Thriller.[19]Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars praising the screenplay and performances of Mukerji and Jethwa.[20]India Today gave the film 3 out of 5 stars praising Puthren's direction and Jethwa's performance.[21]
