Gandhari (2026): Taapsee Pannu Carries stands out while the narrative loses grip
Taapsee Pannu runs through dimly lit corridors with the urgency of a woman who has stopped counting the costs, but Devashish Makhija’s Gandhari never quite lets that urgency breathe. The film arrives wrapped in the trappings of a 90s-style revenge drama, yet its contemporary ambitions keep tripping over themselves.
Taapsee Pannu Carries a Film That Can’t Decide What It Wants to Be
Pannu’s Bani is the single most coherent element in this 115-minute muddle. She commits to the rescue-and-revenge arc with a physicality that suggests she understood the assignment even when the screenplay didn’t.
Critics have uniformly placed her at the center of whatever works here. One review noted the film “gets lost in its own ambitions, desperately trying to be everything at once”, but Pannu never gets lost, even when the narrative around her does.
Makhija’s Direction Shows Glimpses of Vision Buried Under Excess
The director, known for the controlled fury of Bhonsle and Joram, attempts to link visual and performance elements to an underlying message. The traditional impressionist behrupia performances mentioned in early reviews suggest he wanted texture beyond the standard thriller palette.
But the screenplay by Kanika Dhillon overstuffs the frame. Too many strands, too many characters circling the same point, and the tension that should tighten like a vice keeps loosening into confusion.
The Thriller Mechanics Never Click Into Place
For a film labeled action-mystery-thriller, Gandhari spends remarkable energy avoiding the discipline the genre demands. The rescue framework is familiar, almost comfortingly so, but the execution feels overbuilt, multiple plot threads competing for space instead of one clean suspense line pulling us forward.
Reviews describe the pacing as weak and the tension insufficient. A thriller that doesn’t thrill is like a joke that explains itself; the structure strangles the very response it’s trying to provoke.
Times of India’s average rating of 2.5 out of 5 feels almost generous given the consensus. “It seems convoluted, ” one critic wrote, and that word, convoluted, appears across multiple assessments like a verdict the film can’t escape.
For more Hindi thriller reviews, explore our extensive coverage of films that actually nail the genre’s demands.
Supporting Cast Brings Weight That the Script Doesn’t Earn
Chhaya Kadam and Swastika Mukherjee are the kind of performers who can elevate thin material through sheer presence. Their casting signals an intent toward grounded, lived-in character work that the hurried screenplay never fully honors.
Mita Vashisht adds gravitas as Jhunu Amba, while Ishwak Singh’s Gokul provides a counterweight to Pannu’s intensity. Prashant Narayanan’s Dada lurks as the closest thing to an identifiable antagonist, though the film’s refusal to sharpen its villain weakens the entire moral geometry.
A Familiar Formula With Nowhere New to Go
The audience complaints mirror the critical ones almost exactly, convoluted narrative, insufficient tension, a sense that we’ve seen this rescue-revenge template executed with more precision elsewhere. Pannu’s fanbase will find reasons to show up, and the action-thriller setup promises more than it delivers.
What’s missing is the controlled rage that made Makhija’s earlier work sing. Gandhari wants to be everything, a message film, an action setpiece, a family drama, a mystery, and ends up being a decent one-time watch that frustrates more than it satisfies.
If you’re choosing between this and a tighter thriller, pick the tighter one. Gandhari works best as background viewing on OTT, where its ambitions don’t feel quite so heavy against the walls of a theater. I found myself wishing the film had trusted Pannu the way she trusted it.
Taapsee Pannu deserves better than this scattered vehicle, Gandhari gets a 2.5 out of 5, a watch only for her most devoted fans.
For a sharper take on revenge narratives, revisit Critique review.
And for a bloody homecoming done right, catch Mirzapur verdict.
Ankit Jaiswal is the Chief Author, covering Indian cinema and OTT releases with honest, no-filler criticism. An SEO strategist by background, he brings a research-driven approach to film writing, cutting through hype to tell you exactly what's worth your time.
