Critics review the Netflix film Gandhari starring Taapsee Pannu
Reviewers have given critical responses to the Netflix film Gandhari, directed by Devashish Makhija and starring Taapsee Pannu. The film centres on a mother searching for her abducted five-year-old daughter in West Bengal.
The backdrop
Context you may need.
Gandhari is an Indian film released on the streaming platform Netflix, directed by Devashish Makhija and written by Kanika Dhillon. The narrative deals with themes of child trafficking and maternal trauma.
The record
Facts the coverage agrees on.
- The film is titled Gandhari and streams on Netflix.
- Taapsee Pannu stars in the lead role of Bani.
- Devashish Makhija directed the film.
- Kanika Dhillon is associated as writer and producer.
How the coverage divides
Where the tellings part ways.
Reviews across publications unite in their negative assessment of the film's execution, though they emphasize different flaws. Indie and specialist outlets like The Quint, The Federal, and Scroll.in focus on the missed thematic opportunities, arguing that the film fails to explore its mythological title metaphor and dissolves into a shrill, chaotic blur. Mainstream outlets like the Times of India and Indian Express similarly critique the lack of narrative tension and believability, framing it primarily as a misfire in plot mechanics and execution.
Where the coverage agrees
The film Gandhari is released on Netflix.
Taapsee Pannu plays the lead role of Bani in the film.
The plot involves the abduction of a young child in a fictional town in West Bengal.
The coverage
Every source, linked — with comparative analysis for each telling. Useful for UPSC/CLAT: note who centres which voice, and what each bucket of outlets foregrounds.
Reading the roster
All five outlets uniformly treat the release as a critical disappointment, foregrounding its narrative shortcomings in their headlines. Mainstream outlets like Times of India and Indian Express focus tightly on the plot mechanics, character names, and structural pacing issues. Indie platforms like The Quint, The Federal, and Scroll.in lean more heavily into stylistic critiques, analyzing the director's choices, thematic symbolism, and emotional resonance. Across the board, the coverage omits broader socio-legal contexts of the issues tackled, keeping the focus strictly on artistic evaluation.
Mainstream vs indie framing
How high-volume nationals and legacy outlets tell it differently from digital-native and specialist press — not a quality judgment.
Mainstream outlets like the Times of India and Indian Express frame the film primarily through a plot-centric lens, detailing character names and specific narrative setups while delivering concise artistic verdicts. Indie and specialist outlets such as The Quint, The Federal, and Scroll.in adopt a more analytical tone, examining directorial intent, thematic metaphors, and stylistic delivery. Both buckets align in their ultimate critical verdict, though specialist platforms offer deeper stylistic critiques.
Gandhari Review: Too Many Tricks, Too Little Tension ↗
Story: Bani (Taapsee Pannu) and her husband Gokul (Ishwak Singh) are shell-shocked when their five-year-old daughter Mishty is abducted in broad daylight from Joypurra, a fictitious town in West Bengal.
Through this lens Times of India frames its critique by drawing a direct comparison to Sujoy Ghosh's 2012 thriller Kahaani, using it as a benchmark for atmospheric restraint that this film lacks. It uniquely expands its critique by bringing in comparisons to other media, such as Babita Singh Reporting, to argue that the film buckles under the weight of competing thriller tropes.
Listed for coverage; not compass-scored in this edition.
Gandhari movie review: Taapsee Pannu film is neither impactful nor believable ↗
Through this lens The Indian Express headline foregrounds a concise verdict of artistic failure—devoid of impact or believability—leaving the detailed unpacking of plot mechanics and character arcs to other publications.
Listed for coverage; not compass-scored (full text unavailable to us).
‘Gandhari’ review: Film about child sex trafficking is all a blur ↗
It’s a particularly busy day in Joypurra town in Bengal.
Through this lens Scroll.in uniquely unpacks specific logistical absurdities in the plot, such as a villainous van carrying obvious cargo and the aimless wanderings of police officer Kabir played by Jatin Sarna. It also cleverly connects the film's thematic failure to its mythological namesake, noting that the movie is as blinkered as the Kaurava queen it references.
Listed for coverage; not compass-scored in this edition.
'Gandhari' Review: Taapsee Pannu's Rage Is Lost in a Shrill, Chaotic Mess ↗
A chirpy couple and their young daughter smile endlessly at each other while sitting in a train compartment, headed for a vacation.
Through this lens The Quint's review leans heavily into a sarcastic critique of the film's narrative incoherence, specifically singling out Mita Vashisht's character, Jhunu Amba, as an absurd, barely fleshed-out concept. It uniquely details plot absurdities like the 'Blackhole' gang and questions whether a key supporting figure might just be a figment of the protagonist's imagination.
Listed for coverage; not compass-scored in this edition.
Gandhari Review: Netflix film starring Taapsee Pannu makes no attempt to explore title’s metaphor ↗
Gandhari Review: Netflix film starring Taapsee Pannu makes no attempt to explore title’s metaphor Directed by Devashish Makhija and written and produced by Kanika Dhillon, Gandhari — the story of a traumatised mother…
Through this lens The Federal focuses its lens squarely on the film's cynical emotional manipulation, arguing that it relies on an unearned accumulation of misery rather than genuine character development. It critiques the opening sequence and the 48-hour kidnapping trope as lazy shortcuts designed to manufacture audience sympathy without putting in the narrative work.
Listed for coverage; not compass-scored in this edition.
Missing from the coverage
Voices absent across all sources.
Perspectives from child rights experts or law enforcement professionals regarding the cinematic portrayal of child trafficking are largely absent from these reviews.
For exam prep
UPSC and CLAT angles — syllabus hooks and answer prompts, not coaching notes.
GS I (Indian Society: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism) and GS II (Issues relating to development and management of social sector/services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources). Aspirants can examine how popular cinema shapes societal perceptions of grave crimes such as child trafficking.
- Discuss how commercial cinema handles sensitive social themes like child trafficking and whether dramatic formatting often undermines systemic realities.
- Examine the role of artistic critique in shaping public discourse around social issue-based films in contemporary India.
Before you decide what you think
- How do your expectations of a thriller or social drama shape your evaluation of a film's pacing and narrative choices?
- When critics uniformly pan a project, do you tend to avoid it entirely, or are you curious to test those critical assumptions yourself? Why?
- From a legal perspective, how does mainstream media representation of child abduction influence public discourse around law enforcement response and victim justice in India?
- How might you structure a Mains-level critique on the intersection of sensitive social themes like child trafficking and commercial cinematic formatting?
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Placements describe framing, not truth or virtue. Resolved scores are editor-checked; contested placements are marked provisional. Methodology · disagree with a placement? Tell us.