Mardini, the title has been adapted from the mythical folk lore of Mahishasura Mardini. It is most famously attached to Goddess Durga as Mahishasura Mardini—the slayer of the buffalo demon Mahishasura. Produced by Shreyas Talpade, this thriller stars Abhijeet Khandkekar and Jitendra Joshi, with Prarthana Behere playing the pivotal character. It is directed by Ajay Mayekar.
It is an entertainment oriented movie… a ruthless entertainment, keeping in mind the logic.
Prarthana Behere plays the woman who has lost her husband and caringly looks after her 8 year old daughter as well as her old mother. And it is about how a single mother fights for her daughter undauntedly.
Mardini – A Tribute to Women
The working mother learns that her daughter requires a particular type of oxygen machine, without which the child’s life is short lived. However, she learns that the machine costs around Rupees 3 lakhs, which for a middle-class single, working mother is a substantial amount. It is almost unaffordable for her.
In the meanwhile Anjali’s office colleague (a well informed guy) suggests that she check it’s price online. He checks online to find out some manufacturer offering the same maching for 1 Lakh 25,000.
Anjali orders it, only to find that she is riddled with a faulty machine. Her neighbours ridicule her telling that she is supplied with sub-standard Chinese product.
The mother files a police complaint, only to find out that the Senior Cop and his junior whose behaviour is not worth noting. The junior appears to be the main antagonist in this thriller.
A cop with a troubled past
Abhijeet Khandkekar has done a remarkable job as the junior cop Inspector Vikrant Surve who appears to be a sensible man. However he has gone through a troubled past, because of which he is on to something which is very wrong. Instead of helping the poor people, he tries to mislead them.
Except for the new development that it is how Anjali leaves her house and goes to a remote village to escape from the sub-inspector’s ‘evil nazar’. It becomes interesting to see how the junior cop follows her and keeps a tab on her whereabouts with the help of his computerised gadgets. As regards to the story, let me stop here and not reveal any spoilers.
Jitendra Joshi as Inspector Suryakant Gaytonde is imposing, unfortunately he doesn’t get as much scope as that to Abhijeet Khandkekar.
Just to clarify, one wouldn’t call the junior cop Vikrant Surve as a corrupt officer, yet becaue of his oppressed past somewhat like Kamala Hassan’s character in the film Red Rose who suffered bad childhood.
Therefore the past catches up with the junior cop and he now deserves to be punished.
Mardini hold you engrossed all throughout
Producer Shreyas Talpade has given a free hand to director Ajay Mayekar who has done a superb job as the film holds you engrossed till the end. You would never get any feeling of boredom anywhere. The little child artist also has done the job well.
It is however Prarthana Behere who stands out as the harassed wife and a mother who would go to any length to protect her dear one. As fear and uncertainty grows, she must draw upon her inner strength to protect her child, leading to a gripping tale of courage, resilience, and a mother’s fight against darkness. Of course Khandkekar also deserves huge praise as the menacing character, in probably one of his memorable performances.
The film ends with the note that anyone who makes a mistake has to face punishment. Justice Prevails. It has a duration of 2 hours 8 minutes.
– Review by Jyothi Venkatesh
Cast of Mardini (Marathi movie):
Prarthana Behere – Anjali
Abhijeet Khandkekar – Inspector Vikrant Surve
Jitendra Joshi – Inspector Suryakant Gaytonde
Sandhya Mhatre – Anjali Aai
Myra Vaikul – Ovee
Shraddha Satam – Vikrant mami
Ramesh rokde – Vikrant Mama
Ayush Jain – young Vikrant
Vinayak Bhave – RV (Ravi)
Swati Bovlekar – Barka Aaji
Rajesh Bhosale – Chandu
Sonali Patil – Vishakha
Bhushan Telang – Baddare Kaka (shop owner)
Drishyam 2 – Malayalam film review
Credits of of Mardini (Marathi movie):
Presented By: Shreyas Talpade
Concept & Direction by: Ajay Mayekar
Produced by Deepti Talpade
Co-Producer: Tina Kothari
Story, Screenplay & Dialogues: Mahabaleshwar Narvekar
Editor: Abhishek Seth
Co-editor – Pracchay Thakore
Music: Hitesh Modak
Choreography: Ahmed Khan
Cinematography: Shabbir Naik
Creative Producers: Atharv Sane Bhushan Telang
Lyrics: VinayakPawar Prashant Madpuwar
Associate Director : Aniket Dalvi
Art Director: Mayuresh Bhandarkar
Action Director : Vikram Dahiya
Singers: Adarsh Shinde Avadhoot Gupte
Background Score: Sanket Patil
Public Relations: Pradnya Sumathi Shetty (Friends InCorporate 360)
Costume Stylist: Sakshi Salvi
Makeup: Sunil Navle Sushma Navle
VFX: Jm Vfx Studio Rahul Borse
Publicity Photographer: Mrunal Kalsekar
Publicity Designer : Chaitanya Sant Mantraa Luminosity
Distribution: Ankit Swati Chandiramani (Sunshinez Studio) Sunny Naam
Visual Promotions: just right studioz
Patriarchal way of Thinking, Living, and Governance
