Movie Review: ‘Gandhari’: Taapsee Pannu Delivers a Powerful Performance as Kanika Dhillon’s Fierce Mother Takes on a Dark Criminal World

Film Review: ‘Gandhari’

Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee, Meeta Vashisht, Jatin Sarna, Prashant Narayanan, Chandan Roy, Biswanath Chatterjee, Preeti Shroff, Myra Shivaan, Shubham Basu

Director: Devashish Makhija

Producer: Kanika Dhillon

Genre: Action Thriller

Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes

Language: Hindi

Release Date: 3 September 2026

Platform: Netflix

Rating: 3.5 Stars

A mother’s instinct to protect her child can turn fear into courage and helplessness into an unstoppable force. ‘Gandhari’ builds its story around this powerful emotion, placing a mother at the centre of a dark and dangerous battle where she has nothing left to lose. Written and produced by Kanika Dhillon, the film gives the age-old idea of a mother’s strength a contemporary and gritty treatment.

What makes the premise more intriguing is the unusual condition under which its protagonist is forced to fight. Bani loses her sight but refuses to lose hope, turning her physical limitation into a weapon against the people responsible for taking away her daughter. Taapsee Pannu leads the film with an intense performance, while Devashish Makhija keeps the treatment grounded and raw. Streaming on Netflix from 3 September, ‘Gandhari’ combines emotion, revenge, action and suspense. Let’s take a closer look at the film.

Story:

The story begins with an ordinary family. Bani (Taapsee Pannu) is travelling by train with her husband Gokul (Ishwak Singh) and their little daughter Mishti (Myra Shivaan). Their lives take a horrifying turn at Joypura station in West Bengal when Gokul gets off the train to fetch something, and at that very moment, an unknown woman picks up Mishti and runs away with her.

Desperate to save her daughter, Bani jumps off the train and chases the woman through the crowd. But while running after her, she hits her head against a metal object and collapses, bleeding heavily. The life-threatening accident leaves her eyes severely affected, forcing doctors to bandage them.

But driven by an obsessive determination to bring her missing daughter back, Bani transforms into a modern-day Gandhari and sets out alone to uncover the hidden monsters of society who have taken her child. The bandage over her eyes, instead of becoming her weakness, becomes a weapon she uses to track down the criminals. She turns her blindness into her greatest strength.

With the police and the system proving helpless, Bani decides to enter the dark underbelly of Joypura herself. Guided only by the bandage over her eyes and the sound of her daughter’s cries echoing in her ears, she manages to enter the terrifying labyrinth of the criminal syndicate.

But will she succeed in eliminating the criminals and bringing her innocent daughter back, or will she meet the same fate as Abhimanyu from the Mahabharata and become a martyr in this battle? You will have to watch the film to find out. What keeps the narrative engaging is the way Kanika Dhillon gradually builds the suspense while taking Bani deeper into a world where every step comes with a new danger.

Acting:

Taapsee Pannu carries much of the film on her shoulders and delivers a performance that relies heavily on restraint and physical expression. Playing a character whose eyes remain covered for a large part of the story is a demanding challenge, but Taapsee uses her voice, movements, body language and expressions to communicate Bani’s fear, grief, anger and determination.

Her portrayal becomes particularly effective as Bani’s helplessness slowly gives way to rage. The character’s emotional transformation from a mother shattered by the disappearance of her daughter to a woman willing to confront an entire criminal network gives Taapsee plenty of scope to perform, and she makes the most of it.

Ishwak Singh is convincing as Gokul, a husband and father struggling to deal with a situation beyond his control. Jatin Sarna brings intensity to the role of the honest police officer trying to navigate a system that is struggling to keep up with the situation. Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee and Meeta Vashisht lend credibility and depth to the supporting portions of the narrative. Myra Shivaan is effective in the scenes where her innocence becomes an emotional anchor for Bani’sjourney.

Direction and Technical Aspects:

Devashish Makhija gives ‘Gandhari’ a gritty and realistic visual treatment. Rather than relying heavily on the larger-than-life style generally associated with action films, he keeps the atmosphere tense, dark and grounded. The action is designed to complement the character and her circumstances rather than simply becoming spectacle.

Screenplay and Pacing: Kanika Dhillon’s screenplay moves at a brisk pace and wastes little time getting into the central conflict. The 1-hour-55-minute runtime helps the film maintain its momentum, with the narrative constantly pushing Bani closer to the criminal network and the truth behind her daughter’s disappearance.

The background score and sound design are particularly important to the film. Since Bani is forced to navigate the world without sight, sound becomes an extension of her senses. The surrounding noises, voices and atmospheric sounds help create tension and allow the audience to experience her altered reality along with her.

Conclusion:

‘Gandhari’ stands out for its central idea of turning a mother’s helplessness into an extraordinary source of strength. The film uses the symbolism of Gandhari in an interesting contemporary setting, while keeping the emotional driving force firmly rooted in a mother’s determination to find her child.

Taapsee Pannu gives the character the required intensity and vulnerability, while Kanika Dhillon’s screenplay keeps the story moving through suspense and conflict. Devashish Makhija’s grounded direction ensures that the film retains its raw edge, and the supporting cast adds further weight to the narrative.

The film may follow the familiar territory of revenge and crime thrillers, but its central character and unusual premise give it a distinct identity. ‘Gandhari’ is an intense and emotionally driven thriller that works particularly well when it explores the lengths a mother can go to when everything else fails. Overall, ‘Gandhari’ earns 3.5 out of 5 stars. If dark, character-driven action thrillers are your kind of cinema, this one deserves a place on your Netflix watchlist.