By Ayesha Khan 
Mumbai, January 13: The first thing the Mardaani 3 trailer does is make you uncomfortable. Not because of loud action or flashy visuals, but because of how quietly it begins. There is no dramatic buildup. No heroic punchline. Just a sinking feeling that something is deeply wrong.
Released on January 12, the trailer wastes no time getting to the point. Ninety-three young girls, all between eight and eleven years old, have vanished in just three months. No exaggeration. No sugarcoating. Just a number that hits hard because it feels frighteningly believable.
And once again, the person standing between that horror and complete chaos is ACP Shivani Shivaji Roy, played by Rani Mukerji.
This Time, The Threat Feels Bigger Than One Case
If the earlier Mardaani films felt personal, this one feels massive. The trailer suggests a crime that is spread across cities, hidden in plain sight, and protected by silence. Shivani is no longer chasing one criminal. She is chasing a system that has learned how to stay invisible.
The tone is noticeably darker. Shivani looks tired. Not weak, but worn down. Like someone who has spent years fighting battles that never really end. Her anger is still there, but now it feels heavier, more controlled, almost dangerous.
There is a line in the trailer that says, “There will be no mercy.” It does not sound like a slogan. It sounds like a warning.
Meet Amma, A Villain You Would Never Suspect
The biggest surprise in the trailer is the villain. Amma, played by Mallika Prasad, is introduced not with grand music or dramatic lighting, but as a figure people usually ignore.
She is a beggar mafia queen. Someone who blends into crowds, hides behind religion, charity, and poverty, while running something far more sinister underneath. The trailer hints that she controls an entire network, using society’s blind spots to her advantage.
What makes Amma truly disturbing is how real she feels. There is no cartoonish evil here. Just quiet authority, fear, and control. The film does not spell out her full plan, and that silence makes her even more frightening.
Shivani Roy Is No Longer Playing By The Book
One thing the trailer makes very clear is that Shivani Roy is done pretending that rules alone can fix everything. Interrogations are rough. Tempers flare. Violence, when it happens, is quick and ugly.
There are no slow-motion hero shots. No background score telling you when to clap. The action feels messy, rushed, and desperate. Like real life.
This is where Rani Mukerji really stands out. Her performance looks restrained but intense. She is not trying to prove anything anymore. She is just trying to stop something terrible before it is too late.
The film does not sell empowerment as something glamorous. It shows the cost of it. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally.
A Gritty, No-Nonsense Direction
Directed by Abhiraj Minawala, Mardaani 3 looks stripped down and raw. The visuals are dark. The locations feel cramped. The camera stays close, almost uncomfortably so.
There is a clear attempt to avoid sensationalism, especially given the subject matter. The trailer never shows the missing children directly. Instead, it lets the fear sit in the background, which somehow makes it worse.
This is not a film trying to shock for attention. It feels like a film trying to make a point, even if that point is hard to sit with.
Release Date Shift Shows Studio Confidence
Yash Raj Films has also announced that the film’s release has been postponed to January 30, 2026, instead of the earlier February 27 date.
Such moves usually happen when a studio is confident about its product. Pushing the film forward gives it breathing room at the box office and signals that the makers believe the audience is ready for something serious, even uncomfortable.
It also suggests that Mardaani 3 is not being positioned as just another sequel, but as an event film that demands attention.
Why This Franchise Still Hits Hard
The Mardaani series has always been different. It does not offer easy villains or neat endings. It talks about crimes that are often whispered about and then ignored. And it places a woman at the centre of that fight without turning her into a fantasy figure.
Shivani Roy feels real because she fails, gets angry, and keeps going anyway. In a film industry where such characters are rare, that matters.
From what the trailer shows, Mardaani 3 is ready to push even further into uncomfortable territory. It does not promise relief. It promises confrontation.
For now, the trailer leaves you uneasy. And that unease stays long after it ends.
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- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/authors/ayesha/
