Taapsee Pannu's Netflix Thriller Gandhari Gets Mixed Reviews

The Netflix thriller "Gandhari," starring Taapsee Pannu, has been released, prompting discussions about its mythological connections and receiving mixed reviews for its execution. The film, directed by Devashish Makhija and written by Kanika Dhillon, follows Bani, a mother whose daughter is kidnapped during a train journey to the fictional town of Joypura. While pursuing the kidnapper, Bani suffers injuries that cause temporary blindness, forcing her to navigate the world without sight as she and her husband, Gokul, search for their child. The film's title and central character draw a symbolic parallel to Gandhari from the Mahabharata. In the epic, Gandhari chooses to blindfold herself to share the blindness of her husband, King Dhritarashtra, and is later defined by her grief as a mother. Writer Kanika Dhillon has explained that she wanted to reinterpret this figure for a modern story. "Gandhari, in the Mahabharata, has been a mother who could never actively take a stand. This time I wanted to reinterpret that see her actually making the right decision and getting into the battlefield and fighting that war," Dhillon said. However, the film is not a direct adaptation.