Mardaani 2 is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film and a sequel to the 2014 film Mardaani. It is directed by Gopi Puthran who wrote the previous film, marking his directorial debut, and backed through Yash Raj Films. Rani Mukerji reprises her role of police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy from the previous film and the film shows how she goes up against a 21-year-old rapist and murderer played by newcomer Vishal Jethwa. Mardaani 2 was announced on 10 December 2018 by a social media post. Filming began in March 2019 and was extensively done in Rajasthan. The first look was unveiled in April 2019 and release date was announced in September 2019. It was released on 13 December 2019 to generally positive response. The film performed successfully at the box office and earned a worldwide gross of. At the 65th Filmfare Awards, Mukerji received a Best Actress nomination for her performance in the film and Vishal received nominations for best Male Debut and Best Negative Role. Following the success of Mardaani 2, the production house announced in December 2019, a possible third installment in the Mardaani series, titled Mardaani 3, with Rani Mukherjee reprising the role of Shivani Shivaji Roy.
Plot
In Kota, Rajasthan, a 21-year-old psychopath, Sunny, kidnaps an outspoken young woman, Latika. He brutally tortures and rapes her, then kills her. S.P. Shivani Shivaji Roy IPS examines the case. The brutality of the murder disturbs her and makes her more determined to catch the killer. Sunny sees Shivani on TV when she appears at a press conference and promises to find Latika's killer. He taunts her by sneaking into her home and stealing her sari, using it to kill a journalist; he also hires Pravin, a tea-seller near the localpolice station, to kill the journalist's wife in a suicide blast, then takes Pravin's place as tea-seller to keep an eye on her, 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 in the toilet. When there is a media uproar, Shivani points out that Sunny is not afraid of being caught; he is doing all this because she has hurt his ego by insulting him on TV. He is a man of spectacle who is doing this for fame and pleasure. Sunny kidnaps a second bold outspoken woman ; the police discover her already raped and tortured but still alive and manage to save her. The media attacks the police force for their perceived ineptness at catching Sunny and Shivani is set to be transferred. As the new S.P. is to arrive in two days, she strives to find Sunny in those two days. Sunny, acting as Bajrang, deliberately wounds himself and 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. Shivani discovers that Sunny's next target is the female politician Sunanda; having failed to kill Shivani, Sunny had warned her that he would instead kill someone like her. That night, amidst the Diwali celebrations, Shivani and her team search for him. Shivani discovers him in the house of a local couple, having taken their daughter and Sunanda hostage and torturing them. Shivani goes to confront him but is knocked unconscious and tied up. When she awakes, Sunny is strangling Sunanda; to distract him, Shivani talks about his mother and his past, which she learned about from Sunny's father, who is imprisoned in Meerut. As a child, Sunny's father had tried to murder Sunny's mother, who had been an outspoken woman. In terror, Sunny's mother had hid on the terrace, but Sunny told his father where she was hiding; his father then killed his mother. The guilt of his mother's death has since caused Sunny to become unhinged and take that anger out on other confident girls. 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.
On 10 December 2018 Yash Raj Films announced on their official Twitter account the making of sequel to their hit film Mardaani to be directed and scripted by Gopi Puthran. Rani Mukerji is to reprise her role of Shivani Shivaji Roy of the last film. Vikram Singh Chauhan and Shruti Bapna later on added to the cast.
Filming
The principal photography began on 27 March 2019. The official Twitter page of Yash Raj Films posted the announcement of beginning of shooting and shared a picture from the sets of the film. Rani Mukerji is set to go on the second schedule of filming in the first week of May to hunt for culprit in Kota and Jaipur in Rajasthan. Mukerji shooting in Rajasthan was battling in 42 °C temperature as she is filming fighting scenes while hunting for villain. Rajasthan schedule of the film was wrapped up on 29 May.
Marketing and release
First look of lead actress Rani Mukerji was revealed on 30 April 2019. She appeared in the uniform of a police officer. A thirty eight seconds official teaser was released by Yash Raj Films on 30 September 2019, to announce the release date of the film. The teaser was attached with the big-budget action thrillerWar, another YRF production that released on 2 October 2019. On 14 November official trailer of the film was launched by Yash Raj Films. The film was released on 13 December 2019.
Box office
Mardaani 2 was released worldwide on 2105 screens. 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, constituting of ₹56.63 crore and ₹10.49 crore.
Sequel
In December 2019, it was announced that Rani Mukerji is set to reprise her role in the third installment of Mardaani franchise titled Mardaani 3.
