Mumbai, Dec 28 (IANS): Actress Rani Mukerji feels her latest release "Mardaani 2" was an extremely risky movie to make, because of its dark subtext that deals with a sombre social issue.

"If you have a look at it, 'Mardaani 2' was an extremely risky film to make. It is a dark film. It deals with a social issue. It has no song and dance. In fact, it has no songs! It is without any so-called commercial cinema element. But it is a hit and it has managed to become a talking point," Rani said.

She added: "This is because of the entire team believed in taking a risk to make a film that would challenge these pre-conceived notions of how a Hindi film should be. We only wanted to make a good film that people would want to engage with, that leaves a strong message and we are happy that we have done just that."

"Mardaani 2", which has so far collected Rs 40.20 crore at the box-office, highlights the issue of rise in violent crimes against women committed by juveniles in India.

"The reason why ‘Mardaani 2' is a success is because the story of our film has connected with audiences and touched their hearts. This is because it deals with the reality of today and deals with what women in our society are facing. We have all read about these issues," said the actress, who reprised her role of police officer Shivani Shivaji Roy in the film.

Rani says the film is about gender inequality and the team has tried to bring out this burning issue to the forefront.

"It deals with so many things but at the heart of it, the film is about gender inequality. Shivani faces it in her workplace despite being a top cop and being at the peak of her career. The villain too is driven by the feeling that girls need to be below men and detests women who stand up for themselves," she said.