How did ‘Beggar Mafia’ Mallika Prasad get cast in Mardaani 3? Will give competition to Rani Mukherjee

The trailer of ‘Mardaani 2’ is creating a stir online as soon as it is released, especially because of the character of the new villain ‘Amma’, which has been played very well by Mallika Prasad. Rani Mukherjee is once again returning as police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy, who this time is seen taking on a dangerous gang linked to child trafficking and beggar mafia. In the trailer, Amma is presented as a cruel, vicious and almost invincible woman, who is completely different from the male villains of the previous two films.

This female character is the mastermind behind the disappearance of 93 girls over the past three months, and her cold cruelty has left viewers with goosebumps. As soon as the trailer was released, there was praise for Amma and Mallika Prasad on social media, which increased people’s curiosity about their background, career and previous works. The film will release in theaters on January 30, 2026, and it looks to be the most intense and dark story of the Mardaani franchise yet.

Who is Malika Prasad?

Mallika Prasad is an Indian actress, director and theater artist, born in Bangalore. She mainly works in Hindi, Kannada films, TV series and theatre. She has a Postgraduate Diploma in Acting from the National School of Drama (NSD) and a Masters Degree in Performance Making from Goldsmiths, University of London. She is an experienced performer who has won national awards and has also directed and produced documentary films, especially on rural women’s cooperatives.

Malika Prasad’s career has been like this

Mallika’s film debut was in 1999 with the Kannada film ‘Kanooru Heggadithi’, which won the National Award for Best Film. In this he played a supporting role, after which he played the lead role in ‘Guptagamini’ in 2001. In 2002, worked with Shabana Azmi and Sadashiv Amrapurkar in the Hindi film ‘Devi Ahilya Bai’. In TV and web series, she played the role of Amrita’s mother in ‘Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat’ in 2022. In 2023, she played the character of Radha Rajesh in ‘Aspirants’, where she grilled Naveen Kasturia’s character in a mock interview. In 2024, she played the role of Zubaida in ‘Killer Soup’.

How was the casting in Mardaani 3?

In Mardaani 3, Malika is playing a villain named ‘Amma’, who is a cold, cruel and calculated mastermind. Amma runs a child trafficking and beggar mafia, and Rani Mukherjee’s Shivani stands against Shivaji Roy. His striking look (bald head, cold eyes) in the trailer is going viral, and this role is a big break in his career. Specific casting details were not available, but director Abhiraj Minawala chose her because of her theater background, intense performance skills, and previous roles with intense characters. The film will be released on January 30, 2026, and is part of India’s first female-led cop franchise. Fans on Reddit are saying that the face-off between Rani vs Malika will be exciting as both are good actresses.