Entertainment

Rani Mukerji: Mardaani is a franchise that talks about women empowerment

Instagram: Mardaani 2

By: Murtuza Nullwala

In 2014, Rani Mukerji played the role of a cop named Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani. Now, after five years, we will get to see her on the big screen once again as Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani 2. The trailer of the film was released a few days ago and it has received a great response.

Mardaani is the first female cop franchise in Bollywood. So, recently, during a media interaction when Rani was asked how pressurized she felt about the sequel, the actress stated, “Mardaani is not a regular franchise. I think it’s a franchise that talks about women empowerment. Shivani Shivaji Roy embodies the spirit of women empowerment in its true spirit because women when they watch a film like that, they get inspired, they feel empowered. So, it’s a different kind of film, a different kind of subject that we are dealing with. More than being pressurized about how the sequel would be, I think the most important reason was that are we raising an important issue with Mardaani 2, are we able to talk about the serious crime our city or country is facing, is there an important message that we are giving. The concept was most important.”

For Mardaani, Rani had trained in Krav Maga, a self-defence martial art form. When she was asked if she has learned any form of martial arts for Mardaani 2, Rani said, “Mardaani as a franchise is talking about real cops, the way real cops handle a situation, how they tackle crime. Mardaani showed Shivani in the crime branch set up and in Mardaani 2 she is a Superintendent of police. So, with the Khakee uniform comes certain responsibilities and there are certain restrictions that come with the Khakee uniform as well. So, there is that graph in Mardaani 2. Shivani is the same character, but she is very different from the first one, you will see that in the film. We have kept a kind of action that is very real.”