Gandhari Movie Review:
Gandhari is one of those movies where the basic idea immediately grabs your attention.
A mother loses her daughter after she is kidnapped, and during the same incident, she loses her eyesight. Instead of sitting back and waiting for the system to help, she decides to find her daughter herself. Sounds intense, right?
Directed by Devashish Makhija, Gandhari stars Taapsee Pannu in the lead, along with Swastika Mukherjee, Chhaya Kadam and Mita Vashisht. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
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What is Gandhari about?
Taapsee plays Bani, a mother whose world falls apart when her young daughter is kidnapped. Her search takes her to the fictional town of Joypurra, where things get much darker than she initially expects.
The investigation eventually leads her towards a dangerous child-trafficking network. Bani has very little to rely on, so she decides to take matters into her own hands and goes deep into this dangerous world.
The film clearly wants the audience to feel Bani’s anger, helplessness and determination. And there are moments where that actually works.
Taapsee Pannu is the biggest strength
There’s no doubt that Taapsee carries most of the film on her shoulders.
Bani isn’t presented as some perfect superhero. She’s a mother pushed into an impossible situation, and Taapsee brings plenty of aggression and emotion to the character.
The action scenes also give her a chance to go all out. She looks convincing when Bani is angry and fighting back, and this is easily one of Taapsee’s more physically demanding roles.
The supporting cast, including Swastika Mukherjee, Chhaya Kadam and Mita Vashisht, adds some weight to the story as well.
The story has a good idea, but the execution is mixed
This is where Gandhari starts losing some of its impact.
The central idea is strong. A mother searching for her kidnapped daughter while dealing with her own blindness could have made for a really tense thriller.
The first part does create some curiosity. You want to know where the daughter has gone and who is behind the kidnapping.
But as the story moves forward, some of the twists feel forced. The movie sometimes becomes more interested in creating dramatic moments than making the whole thing believable.
That makes it difficult to stay emotionally connected to the characters.
Several reviews have also pointed out this problem, with criticism aimed at the film’s uneven screenplay, exaggerated moments and lack of emotional depth.
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The action works better than the drama
If you’re watching Gandhari mainly for the action, you may have a better time.
The movie doesn’t hold back when Bani starts fighting for her daughter. There is a rawness to some of these sequences, and Taapsee clearly commits to them.
But the emotional portions don’t always land with the same force.
That’s a little surprising because the story has a very emotional core. A mother trying desperately to bring her child home should automatically create an emotional connection. Here, the writing sometimes gets in the way.
Final Verdict
Gandhari has a solid premise and a committed Taapsee Pannu performance, but the movie doesn’t completely live up to its potential.
There are some gripping stretches, especially when Bani starts getting closer to the people responsible for her daughter’s disappearance. But the uneven writing and some overly dramatic moments make the overall experience less powerful than it could have been.
Still, if you like dark revenge thrillers, women-led action movies and Taapsee Pannu’s performances, Gandhari is worth giving a shot on Netflix.
Don’t expect a perfectly tight thriller, though. It’s more of a one-time watch with a strong lead performance.
Gandhari Rating: 2.5/5
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, Drama
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
Director: Devashish Makhija
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Swastika Mukherjee, Chhaya Kadam, Mita Vashisht and others
Language: Hindi
OTT Release: September 3, 2026
