Long before we first set eyes on Rani Mukerji's Shivani Shivaji Roy, we overhear a conversation between two cops who are driving through the streets of Mumbai. Their voices muted and the tone so casual, you could be in the rear seat yourself. They park their car for a moment, their senior hops in, they drive away, and the conversation resumes. They are rejoicing over one of them getting granted leave for the next day; the next day is Sunday.

This one scene, expertly written, becomes the fulcrum upon which this slightly uneven, but thoroughly engaging film is hinged. I said to myself- "The marketing may have fooled me but it's clearly about public service rendered at the cost of private alienation.This is art-house cinema at it's best. And most accessible."

This crew now enters the premises of a slum-house to apprehend a culprit. The camera moves in with the characters and takes a breathtaking pan-shot. I had by now gotten used to this tone- which was still muted- and the cinematography, which was, until now, exquisite. The build-up of tension up to this scene was so palpable, you could have heard an ant walking in the silence of the theatre.

But just then, Shivani makes a gesture to her team to take charge, and immediately, out of nowhere, a tacky background score starts playing. Cue- the whistlers in the front row, the couples in the side seats and the family with the bucket of buttered chips needn't be scared. Calm down, rest assured- we are, after all, watching a commercial movie.

I could write pages on the numerous possibilities that scene could have turned out as, but then, seeing that this is a movie coming out of Yash Raj Films Studios, which is alternatively known as Your Rear's Fucked Studios, maybe I could put grudges aside on this one, and just celebrate the miracle that this film got made the way it has been.

When the movie's name is as feisty as 'Mardani', you walk in expecting lecherous guys getting pummelled under raw feminine angst. It's there, but nothing had prepared me for the delicious clash between art-house and commercial this one is. The issue is child-trafficking, but what comes as a welcome breath of fresh air is that despite the grim subject, every character is etched out beautifully enough to let the audience feel for it. Even the bad guys cry here; they too pledge loyalty. That's acting and writing in perfect harmony. In other words, it's not Madhur Bhandarkaresque- where good is bad, bad is bad, with some same-gender sex scenes thrown in.

It needs to be mentioned that Rani imbibes the character completely; I had loved her as the ballsy journalist in 'Nobody killed Jessica' but here, she had multiple shades to portray. For a movie that presents her almost entirely as a cop, interestingly, it's her emotional scenes that shine out. What I loved about the film was that every actor had a juicy scene to bite into. When Shivani sees a severed finger, the tough cop in her gets shattered and the mother gives away. She turns back and collapses, not on the ground, but on her husband's chest who gives her not only support, but also helps her pluck up grunge.

And you should have seen Jisshu's eyes in this scene; they were visibly smouldering. Suddenly, his reason of being a part of this movie became clear to me. He was basically wallpaper till now, but cometh the occasion, he simply stole this scene; hell, he waltzed away with it. If you get one such scene in a movie, you don't need lead roles. You could make those five-minute appearances and still be loaded with offers.

All in all, if you want to catch a sensible cop movie between the Sighams and the Dabanngs, you would do well to pick this one

Rani Mukerji is stellar in 'Mardani'