Mardini (2026) Marathi Movie Review: A Mother’s Fight for Justice That Never Finds Its Footing

Director: Ajay Mayekar | Cast: Prarthana Behere, Jitendra Joshi, Abhijeet Khandkekar, Sandhya Mhatre, baby Mayra Vaikul | Genre: Drama / Thriller | Runtime: 2h 4m | Rating: UA16+ | Release Date: July 3, 2026 | Production: Affluence Motion Pictures, O.D.I. Group

Plot Overview

Mardini follows Anjali (Prarthana Behere), a single mother raising her young, asthmatic daughter Ovi with her own mother’s help, years after her husband deserted them. On medical advice, Anjali orders an oxygen machine online, only for it to turn out non-functional. When she reports the fraud to the police, sub-inspector Vikrant Surve (Abhijeet Khandekar) takes up the investigation — but things escalate quickly when Anjali starts receiving threatening calls from an unknown number warning her to back off, or Ovi will pay the price. What follows is Anjali’s transformation from a fearful, ordinary woman into someone willing to fight to protect her child.

Performances

Mardini has a genuinely capable cast on paper — Prarthana Behere, Jitendra Joshi, and Abhijeet Khandekar are all names Marathi audiences have long trusted. Unfortunately, reviews suggest the writing gives none of them much to work with. Multiple critics noted that Khandekar’s character, meant to appear warm while concealing something sinister, comes across as more comical than unsettling due to the shallow way his arc is written. The general read across reviews is one of disappointment on the actors’ behalf — performers capable of far more, stuck delivering material that never asks anything real of them.

Critical Reception

The reception to Mardini has been largely negative, and trade reviewers were blunt about it. Film Information’s trade review called the film routine and predicted it would struggle at the box office, also noting a dull opening and lukewarm publicity ahead of release. Independent reviews were sharper still — one widely shared review described Anjali’s arc from timid to fearless as unconvincing, pointing out that her transformation is triggered by little more than a quick temple prayer scene rather than anything earned through the story. The same review noted that the antagonist’s backstory, rooted in childhood trauma, is handled with a similarly thin, cartoonish touch.

A recurring criticism across multiple reviews is that Mardini feels less like a theatrical film and more like a stretched-out television episode — a comparison directly tied to director Ajay Mayekar’s background directing television serials for nearly a decade. Reviewers felt this showed in the film’s visual language, pacing, and reliance on melodrama over genuine tension, despite a premise — a mother fighting a faceless threat to protect her child — that had real potential if handled with more restraint.

Our Verdict

Mardini wastes a promising premise and a genuinely capable cast on writing that never rises above soap-opera conventions. The emotional beats are rushed, the villain’s motivations are underdeveloped, and the heroine’s central transformation — the entire point of the film’s title — happens without any real narrative groundwork. There’s a sincere, if generic, mother-daughter story buried somewhere in here, but the execution doesn’t do it justice.

Rating: 1.5/5 — A capable cast let down by shallow, television-style writing.

Where to Watch Mardini (2026)

As of this writing, Mardini is running only in select theatres in Maharashtra with limited screenings, and no official OTT or digital release date has been announced by the makers, Affluence Motion Pictures. Given its small theatrical footprint and modest box-office performance so far, a streaming release — likely on a Marathi-focused platform such as Planet Marathi OTT, or a general platform like ZEE5 — is plausible in the coming weeks, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

A note on where not to watch it: several “free download” and piracy sites have already put up unauthorized copies of the film online. We won’t be linking to these — piracy hurts the small, independent regional productions like this one the most, and streaming or watching in theatres through legitimate channels is the only way to support Marathi cinema continuing to get made. We’ll update this section the moment an official OTT date is confirmed.

Quick Facts

• Director Ajay Mayekar’s background is primarily in television serials, his feature filmmaking style drew direct comparisons to that medium in multiple reviews
• Limited theatrical release — reportedly just one daily show at several Mumbai cinemas at launch
• Genre setup (a mother-versus-unknown-threat thriller) has worked well in Marathi cinema before, but reviewers felt this execution didn’t capitalize on it