Mardaani’s Villain Factory: From Tahir Raj Bhasin, Vishal Jethwa To Mallika Prasad’s Amma - Will History Repeat Itself?

Rani Mukerji’s Mardaani 3 is hitting theatres on January 30. The franchise first sauntered on to the big screen with Mukerji taking up the mantle of a no-nonsense cop Shivani Shivaji Roy in 2014, following it up with a sequel in 2019 and now she is back with a threequel. If there is one quiet but undeniable legacy the Mardaani franchise has built over the years (apart from positioning Mukerji as a hard-hitting cop) is that its villains do not just serve the story. Rather villains in the Mardaani-verse explode into the cultural conversation. Long after the credits roll in, the antagonists from Mardaani linger in public memory – where they are debated. In many cases the Mardaani franchise turns into career-defining roles for them. As Mardaani 3 gears

up for release, the big question is whether the franchise is about to do it yet again - this time with Mallika Prasad’s chilling new character, Amma.From Mardaani’s Tahir Raj Bhasin and his cold-blooded trafficker, to Mardaani 2’s terrifying sociopath in Vishal Jethwa – the series has a reputation for crafting villains who feel frightening, and frighteningly real. They are never flamboyant, larger-than-life Bollywood baddies, but rather predators who could exist next door. And perhaps that realism is the secret weapon behind the franchise’s ability to ‘blow up’ its antagonists.

Tahir Raj Bhasin: The Villain Who Changed the Game in Mardaani

When Mardaani released in 2014, Tahir Raj Bhasin was hardly a name taken in every household. Playing Karan Rastogi – a suave, manipulative Delhi kingpin running a child trafficking racket – Bhasin delivered a performance that was disturbingly restrained. He did not involve himself in loud theatrics, there was no exaggerated menace. Instead, Bhasin imbibed a calm, almost polite demeanour that made his character far more terrifying to us as the audience. What made Bhasin’s Karan ‘Walt’ Rastogi even more unforgettable was his garb of normalcy as he seamlessly blended into the urbanscape, using intelligence and privilege as weapons. For the audience it was shocking the way he made use of evil in such a non-descriptive way. In real life, evil does not announce itself, and Bhasin turned it into his greatest selling arc. For Bhasin, it was a breakthrough moment, turning him into one of the most talked-about actors of the year overnight. And the Mardaani effect was immediate. Bhasin went on to build a diverse body of work across films and streaming platforms, often being cited as one of the finest antagonist performances of the decade. Mardaani had managed to set a template - if you play the villain right, the Rani Mukerji franchise will make sure you are remembered.

Vishal Jethwa: When Horror Went Mainstream in Mardaani 2

If Tahir Raj Bhasin had unsettled the audience, Vishal Jethwa outright traumatised them.

In the 2019 Mardaani 2, Vishal Jethwa’s Sunny was not just a criminal, he was a psychological abyss – a case study of a mind warped in its own demons. A rapist and a serial killer with an unnerving childlike conduct, Jethwa’s Sunny embodied a kind of violence that was random, nihilistic and impossible to reason with. The closest I had ever come to a character on screen similar to him was Macaulay Culkin's 1993 pyschological thriller The Good Son. Jethwa’s physicality - the slouched posture, eyes vacant as an empty car lot and sudden bursts of intense brutality - turned the character into a walking nightmare.To Aditya Chopra’s credit what made Vishal Jethwa’s performance so effective was its refusal to humanise Sunny. There was no tragic backstory designed to soften the blow and instead Mardaani 2 forced viewers to confront the terrifying reality of misogynistic violence sans filters. Jethwa’s piercing eyes and enthralling performance sparked debates on censorship, audience sensitivity and the limits of realism on celluloid. As for Jethwa, he won critical acclaim, awards and instant recognition – a rare feat for an actor so young who is playing such a deeply unsettling role. And much like Bhasin before him, he is living proof that Mardaani just does not cast villains, it creates them.

Enter Amma in Mardaani 3: Mallika Prasad’s Moment?

With the trailer and subsequent chatter around Mardaani 3, the franchise seems geared up to pivot yet again. Mallika Prasad’s Amma, as glimpsed in the trailer, appears to be a departure from the young male predators of earlier films. Instead, Amma brings an eerie authority, hinting at power rooted - not in physical violence - but in control, ideology and systemised abuse.

Amma feels different. There is something deeply unsettling about a maternal figure being positioned at the centre of a trafficking nexus - a subversion of the traditional “protector” archetype Mardaani highlighted in its first film. If earlier villains thrived anonymity and psychological terror, it seems Amma will be operating through influence, loyalty and fear wrapped in familiarity.This shift in tonality could be Mardaani 3’s boldest move yet. It is no longer a man vs woman clash, rather, by introducing a female protagonist who does not fit conventional villain tropes, Mardaani 3 opens up a more complex conversation about complicity and how exploitation often hides behind respectability. As for Mallika Prasad, this could be a career-altering role. Much like Bhasin and Jethwa before her, Prasad is stepping into a space where the villain is not merely an obstacle for Shivani Shivaji Roy, but the ideological heart of the film’s conflict. Amma could become one of the most disturbing antagonists the franchise has seen - precisely because she doesn’t look like one, and she is a woman.

Why Mardaani Villains Leave a Mark

The reason villains/ antagonists of Mardaani resonate is not accidental. The franchise treats them with narrative seriousness. They are not caricatures designed to be defeated in a battle of good vs evil. Instead, they represent real societal evils that the law enforcement confronts daily in real life. By grounding the villains in reality, the Mardaani franchise ensures that the audience does not simply forget them once the end credits roll.

Rani Mukerji’s Shivani Shivaji Roy

By creating such compelling villainy onscreen, what the franchise also does is make Rani Mukerji’s Shivani Shivaji Roy remain the moral anchor. While the villains are the mirrors held up to society, forcing viewers to confront uncomfortable truths, Mukerji’s Roy heroism is exemplified film after film after film.

Will Amma Join the Mardaani Hall of Fame?

As we gear up to head to the theatres, the question now is whether Mallika Prasad’s Amma will join Tahir Raj Bhasin and Vishal Jethwa in the unofficial Mardaani hall of fame. Going by historical indications, the odds are strong. The franchise has already proven that when it introduces a villain, it doesn’t just create an adversary - it creates a moment.If Amma works, she will be a reminded that in the Mardaani-verse, villainy does not fade, it becomes impossible to ignore.