Gandhari Movie Review: Taapsee Pannu’s Thriller Has Power But Little Emotional Impact

Gandhari has all the ingredients of a gripping thriller – child abduction, parental guilt, revenge, a mysterious town, a sinister trafficking network and a physically vulnerable protagonist. Unfortunately, the film tries to cram too many ideas into it without enough emotional depth. The title is borrowed from the Mahabharata, where Gandhari blindfolded herself in solidarity with her blind husband, Dhritarashtra. The film tries to tie this mythology to Taapsee Pannu’s character Bani, presenting her temporary blindness and her pursuit of vengeance. But directed by Devashish Makhija and written and produced by Kanika Dhillon, Gandhari has trouble finding a consistent tone.

Gandhari follows  s Bani, whose five-year-old daughter Mishty is kidnapped from the fictional town of Joypurra, West Bengal. While looking for her child with her husband Gokul (Ishwak Singh), Bani discovers a larger child-trafficking racket. When an attack leaves her temporarily blind, she sets out on her own to rescue her daughter.

Joypurra, here, acts as an ambitious element, making it an unusual setting for the trafficking story. But the mythology and world-building seem to often be disjointed from the central narrative. They don’t beef up the thriller; they add to its already crowded story.

The film is a blend of a gritty social thriller and over-the-top revenge drama. Some sequences feel grounded and disturbing, others are built on theatrical confrontations and familiar action tropes. Joypurra is a visually interesting world that Devashish Makhija has created, but the film never quite lives up to its potential. The West Bengal setting is not authentic and atmospheric enough for the setting to be a character in itself.

What emerges is a thriller that often feels pulled in two directions, between a quirky OTT drama and a mainstream action movie.

 is committed to the physically demanding role and handles the action sequences well. She gives Bani’s anger and determination, but the character doesn’t let her stray far from the familiar territory of the fierce, wounded woman in several of her previous films.

Swastika Mukherjee is one of the best performances in the film. Her quiet ambiguity lends a disquieting quality that the thriller badly needs. Mita Vashisht and Chhaya Kadam lend gravitas even with limited screen time. Ishwak Singh and Jatin Sarna are underused. Prashant Narayanan lands a larger-than-life villain role but fails to make the antagonist genuinely threatening.

Gandhari has interesting world-building. The tunnels of Joypurra, the performers, and the hidden identities all create a distinctive setting. The town is portrayed as a maze, adept with secret identities, and that commands attention. Taapsee’s performance is another element to praise. The actress is good in the physical sequences of the film. The strong female supporting cast also leaves an impression.

The film’s story of child trafficking has serious social relevance too. A few effective twists work, including some mid-film revelations and confrontations which successfully raise the stakes.

The biggest flaw is the jam-packed screenplay. The movie has abduction, trafficking, revenge, mythology, blindness, mysterious pasts, secret tunnels and action, but can’t quite make them work together. The emotional connection is surprisingly shallow, too. The film doesn’t give the audience enough time to feel the fear, grief and desperation of parents looking for their kidnapped child, which is what the story is supposed to be about.

Many of the action beats and near-escape sequences feel predictable, and some twists feel manufactured, rather than organically developed. The supporting cast works, yet remains another missed opportunity. There are several talented actors who are given parts that serve the story but don’t allow them to develop meaningful characters.

Gandhari has the basis of a strong thriller but is sabotaged by its desire to keep turning the drama up a notch. Taapsee Pannu is committed, the action works at times, and Joypurra is an interesting cinematic world. But the screenplay is so obsessed with twists, mythology and spectacle that it forgets its best aspect: a mother’s desperate struggle to bring her child home.

If you are a fan of female-driven action thrillers, the film is watchable, but if you expect a tightly written and emotionally devastating mystery, you may be disappointed.