Tl-IE SCOURGE TI-IAT IS CI-IILD TRAFFICKING

Mardaani

STARRIN G: Rani Mukerji, Tahir Bhasin, Jisshu Sengupta and Anil George

DIRECTOR: Pradeep Sarkar

Astellar ca st only adds to this accomplished film's sense of creative propriety

Mardaani is a film that makes all the correct noises about child trafficking And by "correct noises''. I do mean the soundtrack, which is among the most evocative, provocative and sati sfying in recent times

Normall y in Bollywood, when films are done with live sound, the effect is scratchy and at times inaudible Mardaani cleans out the noises and yet retains a high decibel of authenticity in the complementary relationship between sight and sound This is a fi lm that knows its job

This, then, is the worl d of Pradeep Sarkar's derel ict people. Posh pimps and "cool" flesh traders gnawing at the fabric of our society by playing with the lives of the most innocent and vulnerab l e

With the least fuss, director Pradeep Sarkar (so eloquent in his last film outing w ith Rani in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag) provides us vivid glimpses into the life of the cop-hero Shivani (Rani).

Rani's Shivani is a mixture of the feminine and the mardaani Displaying exemplary economy of expression, the narrative puts forward Shivani's very articul ate attitude to home and profession through brief but lucid encounters with various characters

Towards the end, the film's elegant pace slackens, sags and almost collapses But somehow, Sark ar manages to keep the proceedings from getting dragged down by the drama, no matter how unru ly they progressively gets

The narrative is we ll -stocked with signs of conscientiousness Human trafficking is evidently not a p retext to assemble a thril ler here Rather, it's the other way around Out of the vast expanses of the film's sens i tivities, there emerges a very engagi ng thril ler, replete with si ncere efforts to demonstrate the harsh reality of child prostitution into a cinematic currency.

Shockingly, the fi l m's world of flesh trade is contro ll ed by a cool urbane corporate type of dude named Walt (excel l ently played by the almost-new actor Tahir Raj Bhasin)

Walt operates his prostitution racket with the blue-toothed p recision of a corporate enterprise. He is on h i s playstation in his free time and lives i n a Delhi flat with his evil mother (Mona Ambegaonkar, scaril y coquettish) . It's al l stunning l y normal and urbane

The film's biggest triu mph l i es in showing the murk that resides under g l eaming surfaces. Girl children are so ld for sexua l gratification to men old enough to be their grandparents while the piped music plays soothingly in the background There is a kind of unassuming veracity in the narration that quickly sucks you in We are inescapably drawn in to Shivani's dark and desperate mission.

You can't come away unaffected by the brutal wor ld that Shivani cracks after a girl she loves goes missing The cat-andmouse game b etween the cop-heroine and Wa lt is defined by some excellent dialogues The words which colonise Pradeep Sarkar 's worl d are constant l y weightier than the casual tones suggest Mardaani lays open a world of crime and heartbreak Scenes of unimagin able tortu re an d h u m il iatio n meted out to young girls are p l aced against the screen h eroics of a heroi ne who is neither Chulbu l Pandey nor Singham and in m any ways gutsier than both.

Rani Mukerji brings in a level of credibility to the character. Her action scenes are never larger than life She is not a show- offy cop. And that's a blessi ng Mardaani is a film that is carpeted w ith competent actors Al most every character, big or small, is p l ayed by actors who don't believe their performances need to scream thei r skills

This film believes in what it has to say about the ki lling of i nnocence.

"Ravaging the Opposition and young gir ls come easily to me;' leers a po li tician.

Right. And India is shin ing.

SUBHASH K. JHA