This threequel is currently dominating the Netflix Top 10 Most Watched list for non-English movies, rounding out a trilogy that star Rani Mukerji has slayed in for the last decade. It seems she’s rewriting the rules for female-led action-thrillers, especially since the other two films in the franchise are currently trending in the Top 10 on Netflix India. It’s gritty and grim, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it’s doing so well with viewers.
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Mardaani 3 centers on Shivani Shivaji Roy, a highly decorated, tough-as-nails policewoman, as she ruthlessly hunts down a crime operation that is responsible for kidnapping nearly 100 girls across India. The first film in the series was released in 2014, with a sequel following in 2019, each focusing on Roy as she takes down traffickers and criminals of all kinds. It’s a film franchise that one is more likely to associate with a big-name male actor, but Mukerji is proving that action franchises led by women can be just as powerful—and successful.
The Mardaani Films Tap Into an Underestimated Subgenre
When we think of cop films filled with tense chase scenes, shootouts, and taking down the criminals, we typically think of the male action stars who lead them. But the Mardaani films have turned that way of thinking on its head, proving that there’s more than enough room for female-led films of the same kind. Critic Nandini Ramnath says, “The 137-minute movie is fleet, efficient and gripping, neatly balancing its heroine’s stardom with a plot that ticks all the right boxes.”
Despite the grit and grime of the crimes that make up the narrative, Mardaani 3 casts a Bollywood thriller in a more mainstream light, placing it alongside other thrillers currently doing numbers on Netflix, such as Detective Hole or Unfamiliar. At its core, it’s a story about a woman who must not only stand up for herself and her ideals but also defend herself against the surrounding patriarchy and the inherent misogyny that comes with being a woman in a male-dominated field. “This chapter works less as a shock and more as a statement of continuity. Mardaani 3 may not be the sharpest entry in the series, but it is a sobering reminder that Shivani’s fight, much like the crimes it confronts, is far from over,” says critic Rishabh Suri.
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