Janki Bodiwala on playing cop alongside Rani Mukerji in ‘Mardaani 3’: 'She was so involved in her character that...'

Janki Bodiwala did not travel to Mumbai to pursue a YRF film. Bodiwala had come to Mumbai for a different job, got an audition call that same day, and landed a role in ‘Mardaani 3’. The actor said the last-minute test at the production house quickly turned into a major break. The film also marks her second Hindi outing after ‘Shaitaan’, where she starred opposite Ajay Devgn and R. Madhavan.

Janki Bodiwala's ‘Mardaani 3’ casting story

As reported by Mid-Day, Bodiwala shared how timing worked in her favor when casting director Shanoo Sharma called her while she was in Mumbai for unrelated work. “I had gone to Mumbai for some other work. That very day, I got a call from Shanoo Ma’am, who asked me to audition for a part.”




Bodiwala went straight to the production house's office and said Sharma helped her prepare before recording the audition. The surprise came later, after she started heading back to Ahmedabad. “Later, when I was returning to Ahmedabad, she called and said that the makers had liked me and wanted me to come back,” Bodiwala recalled. The switch still feels unreal. “I thought to myself, ‘I had gone for some other work and now I’m doing a YRF film’.”

Working with Rani Mukerji in ‘Mardaani 3’

In ‘Mardaani 3’, Bodiwala plays a cop alongside Rani Mukerji. She admitted she felt nervous at first. “For the first two-three shots, I was quite nervous,” she said. She credited Mukerji’s focus for setting the mood on set. “But your co-actors’ energy helps you. She was so involved in her character that it set the tone on the set.”

Bodiwala also spoke about seeing Mukerji away from the cameras during the mahurat puja. “She was there with her family. She was exactly how we are with our families. There was no hint of her stardom,” Bodiwala said.

Bodiwala began her acting career in Gujarati cinema with ‘Chhello Divas’, a Krishnadev Yagnik film that released on November 20, 2015. She later appeared in ‘O! Taareee’, ‘Tamburo’, and ‘Daud Pakad’, followed by ‘Chhutti Jashe Chhakka’, ‘Tari Maate Once More’, and ‘Bau Na Vichaar’. In 2022, she featured in Yagnik’s ‘Naadi Dosh’ with Yash Soni. She followed that with ‘Vash’ in 2023, then made her Hindi debut in 2024 with Vikas Bahl’s ‘Shaitaan’, a remake of ‘Vash’, where she reprised her role as Aarya under the name Jahnvi Rishi.

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