Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Anupama Chopra reviews Gandhari, the sixth collaboration between writer Kanika Dhillon and actor Taapsee Pannu, and finds it the weakest installment in their joint filmography. The high point of their oeuvre remains Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan in 2018, in which Taapsee played the unforgettable red-haired firebrand Rumi, and there was twisted fun to be had in the 2021 streaming film Haseen Dillruba, in which the two switched to a more provocative and pulpy mode. Gandhari, also produced by Kanika, is the story of Bani, played by Taapsee, whose five-year-old daughter Mishti is kidnapped; while chasing the kidnapper, Bani is hit on the head and temporarily loses her eyesight, which explains the title. It belongs to that sub-genre of Indian cinema that could be titled how far will a parent go for their child — think of the Drishyam series, or Madaari, or Sridevi's last film Mom, or Ajji, which was directed by Devashish Makhija, who also directs this one.
Anupama places Devashish in her personal pantheon of directors labelled Masters of the Dark Arts, on the strength of grueling, uncompromising work like Bhonsle and the short film Tandav with Manoj Bajpayee — but here his blazing talent seems stunted by the gleefully low-IQ story. Gandhari makes little place for logic and often crosses the line into being silly. Set in a fictional town called Joypurra on the West Bengal border, home to the Behrupiya community of artists who dress as gods and animals, the film has potential in its combination of religious overtones, painted faces, missing children, deceit and a mother blind and devastated. But the screenplay functions with an anything-goes energy — Bani's blindness comes and goes when the screenplay needs it to, her backstory is bewildering, and a slew of fabulous women in Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee and Mita Vashisht flit in and out without making much of an impression, while Ishwak Singh as husband Gokul is saddled with perhaps the worst arc. The THR Bottomline: mixing goddess metaphors with chatter about a gang called Blackhole and a villain named Dada Bhai implementing Plan Shooniya, and despite Taapsee's determination, Gandhari is impossible to take seriously and a misfire for all concerned. You can see Gandhari on Netflix.
#Gandhari #GandhariReview #THRIndia
Anupama Chopra reviews Gandhari, the sixth collaboration between writer Kanika Dhillon and actor Taapsee Pannu, and finds it the weakest installment in their joint filmography. The high point of their oeuvre remains Anurag Kashyap's Manmarziyaan in 2018, in which Taapsee played the unforgettable red-haired firebrand Rumi, and there was twisted fun to be had in the 2021 streaming film Haseen Dillruba, in which the two switched to a more provocative and pulpy mode. Gandhari, also produced by Kanika, is the story of Bani, played by Taapsee, whose five-year-old daughter Mishti is kidnapped; while chasing the kidnapper, Bani is hit on the head and temporarily loses her eyesight, which explains the title. It belongs to that sub-genre of Indian cinema that could be titled how far will a parent go for their child — think of the Drishyam series, or Madaari, or Sridevi's last film Mom, or Ajji, which was directed by Devashish Makhija, who also directs this one.
Anupama places Devashish in her personal pantheon of directors labelled Masters of the Dark Arts, on the strength of grueling, uncompromising work like Bhonsle and the short film Tandav with Manoj Bajpayee — but here his blazing talent seems stunted by the gleefully low-IQ story. Gandhari makes little place for logic and often crosses the line into being silly. Set in a fictional town called Joypurra on the West Bengal border, home to the Behrupiya community of artists who dress as gods and animals, the film has potential in its combination of religious overtones, painted faces, missing children, deceit and a mother blind and devastated. But the screenplay functions with an anything-goes energy — Bani's blindness comes and goes when the screenplay needs it to, her backstory is bewildering, and a slew of fabulous women in Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee and Mita Vashisht flit in and out without making much of an impression, while Ishwak Singh as husband Gokul is saddled with perhaps the worst arc. The THR Bottomline: mixing goddess metaphors with chatter about a gang called Blackhole and a villain named Dada Bhai implementing Plan Shooniya, and despite Taapsee's determination, Gandhari is impossible to take seriously and a misfire for all concerned. You can see Gandhari on Netflix.
#Gandhari #GandhariReview #THRIndia
