Gandhari Movie Review and Ratings
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Ishwak Singh, and Mita Vashisht
Director: Devashish Makhija
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars)
In the Mahabharata, Gandhari blindfolded herself for her husband; will you do the same for your daughter?’ This dialogue from the film ‘Gandhari’ clarifies the relationship between the title of the film and the story. However, Gandhari of the Mahabharata blindfolded herself in a spirit of dedication and sacrifice towards her husband, whereas in the film it connects to a mother’s struggle for her daughter. In such a situation, there is no similarity between the two. The film centers on a serious issue such as child sex trafficking (Child Sex Trafficking). But there is no newness in this story based on the trafficking of girls, nor has it become powerful. Usually, the picture is shown through trucks, cars, and sea routes, but this time it is shown through tunnels.
When a mother’s love hurts, her helplessness turns into the scariest anger in the world. Netflix’s new action-thriller ‘Gandhari’ is a hair-raising tale of tremendous guts and revenge. Inspired by the mythological context of the Mahabharata, the story shows the big struggle of a mother who goes to a dark alley to save her kidnapped, innocent daughter from the dark underworld of child trafficking. Due to Taapsee Pannu’s strong acting and Kanika Dhillon’s sharp writing, this film is such a storm of thrill, action, and emotions that keeps the audience engaged till the end. Although Kanika has released many emotional arrows in the film, like the sensitive issue of sex trafficking of girls, the emotional journey of finding the daughter of a blind mother, and the mythological association of a goddess killing a demon, alas, these are the targets. Instead of hitting, they have scattered all around.
Gandhari Movie Review: The Story Plot
The story is set in Joypura, a fictional city in West Bengal, where it is said that the demon Magrasura once took away the girls to the underworld. Then Goddess Chaumukhi killed him. Mishti, daughter of Bani (Taapsee Pannu) and Gokul (Ishwak Singh), is kidnapped in broad daylight from a stopped train in this city of impostors. While trying to save her daughter, Bani gets injured and temporarily loses her eyesight. Here, the police have no ear for their complaint because kidnapping of girls has become common in the area.
Actually, a child sex trafficking gang called Black Hole is active there, and to crack down on it, senior police officer Kabir (Jatin Sarna) has also reached there. But seeing no help from the police, both Bani and Gokul start searching for Mishti in their own ways. Bani is helped by her mother, Rupi Mentor Jhunu (Mita Vashishtha), whose own granddaughter is also with this gang. Jhunu not only teaches him to fight, but also suggests that he enter the dark world of black holes by becoming ‘Gandhari ‘, even after seeing his eyesight. Now you have to watch this film to know how Bani saves girls from the darkness of this black hole.
Gandhari Movie Review and Analysis
Kanika Dhillon, who has partnered with Taapsee Pannu in many films ranging from ‘Manmarziyaan’ to ‘Rashmi Rocket’, ‘Haseen Dilruba’, ‘Phir Aayi Haseen Dilruba’, and ‘Dunki’, has always presented her on screen in a powerful role. ‘Gandhari‘ is also no exception. In this, Taapsee has had a chance to take vigorous action against the challenges faced by a blind woman, the helplessness of her mother who has lost her daughter, and her insistence on getting her. But apart from this quality, everything from the script to the other characters has remained light. While watching the film, there is no effort to develop or deepen them.
The issue of trafficking of girls has been shown many times on the cinematic screen. Recently, it was depicted quite prominently in series like Rani Mukherjee’s film ‘Mardaani 3’ and ‘Delhi Crime Season 3’ on OTT. In such a situation, there is no newness in ‘Gandhari‘ at the subject level. Even this world of Joypura does not seem reliable on that. Flaws start appearing from the beginning. For example, on one hand, Bani gets upset because there is only one and a half months to save the girls. But then suddenly she spends a month learning to fight. Not only that, in such a short time, Bani and Gokul settle their household in Joypura, find a job, and everyone starts knowing them. It is difficult to believe the haste with which all this happens.
Writer Kanika Dhilnlan and director Devashish Makhija are not able to establish the mutual relationship between the characters in the film. Be it Bani’s relationship with Jhunu Amma or Gokul, even Mishti does not seem to be emotionally connected. It is difficult to summarize the backstory of Jhunu and Gokul in some words in a moving manner. In a city, police, hospitals, NGOs- everywhere, it seems strange for every person to be bad. Yes, the action scenes of the film are good, in which Taapsee Pannu once again shows the strength of ‘Baby’ and ‘Naam Shabana’. But the climax fight seems absurd. Overall, this film is only about Taapsee, while the characters of great actors like Mita Vashishtha, Swastika Chatterjee, Chhaya Kadam, Jatin Sarna, Prashant Narayanan, and Ishwak Singh do not reach the height of their stature. Rest, technically, the film is strong. The fast pace of the story, cinematography, and background score help in creating thrill.
‘Gandhari’’s real life is Taapsee Pannu’s performance. Taapsee has worked in many women-centric films in her career, but her performance in the role of Bani reaches a new level. From the helpless screams of a mother who has lost her eyesight to her daughter turning into a dangerous warrior… who eliminates her culprits, Taapsee brings every emotion alive with her body language and facial expressions. His agility in action sequences and his eye pain during emotional scenes connect directly with the audience. The supporting cast also gives this thriller tremendous strength. Jatin Sarna has given a stellar performance as a serious and honest investigation officer.
Ishwak Singh in the role of Bani’s husband has created an emotional atmosphere, bringing a new twist to the suspense of the story. Prashant Narayanan, in the villain role, creates a scary feeling and fear when he arrives. Apart from this, experienced actors like Mita Vashishtha, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee, and Chandan Roy keep the mysterious atmosphere of Joypura alive and tense with their small but effective roles.
Director Devashish Makhija has shown a perfect balance between commercial thriller and art-house cinema in ‘Gandhari’, who was earlier known for his deep, realistic, and intense films like ‘Bhosle’ and ‘Joram’. Devashish hasn’t shown the film like a typical Bollywood masala film. He’s used Joypura city’s dark streets, damp walls, and local cultural festivals as backgrounds, making the city itself look like a negative character. The director’s biggest success is that he never breaks the rhythm between action and emotion. When the blind female lead confronts her enemies, directors keep the action realistic, claustrophobic, and raw, instead of using it like an unrealistic ‘superhuman’ stunt. Devashish has shown very well how Bani uses her second sense to understand the atmosphere.
‘Gandhari’’s cinematography gives this thriller the visual feel of an international standard. The camerawork not only captures the scene but also shows the mental and physical darkness inside Bani. Joypura station’s dim scenes, narrow alley shots, and lighting setup of Operation Black Hole’s secret hideouts are spectacular. ‘Chaumukhi Mata Mel’ scene is especially worthy of praise. On one side are the fair’s glitter, loud music, and colorful clothes, while on the other side is the loneliness and fear of a blind mother searching for her daughter among the crowd. This contrast produces a tremendous visual impact. Close-up shots capturing fear and anger on actors’ faces are evidence of the cinematographer’s technical prowess.
Music in a suspense-action thriller doesn’t just have to provide songs, but also increase the tension of the story. ‘Gandhari’’s background score is completely successful in this case. The music and sound design of the film play an important role in keeping the audience’s heartbeats faster with the pace of the story. Slow, suspenseful background music deepens fears as Bani wanders dark alleys in search of her daughter. Meanwhile, the action and climax scene use a fusion of drums and folk music, which really supports the theme of ‘four-faced mata’ and the idea of the raudra form of the goddess. Proper use of sound effects such as train whistles, metal colliding sounds, and heavy breathing sounds… further improves the atmosphere of the film, making the atmosphere feel more surreal.
Despite its many merits, ‘Gandhari’ is not empty of shortcomings. The film’s biggest drawback is its second-half pacing. Where suspense builds quickly in the first half, the story starts to slow down a bit in the second half. Kidnapping racket and ‘operation black hole’’s main story gets pretty predictable in places. Another drawback is that some action scenes have Cinematic Liberty taken. One eyeless woman dominating so many professional armed criminals seems a little unrealistic at times. Plus, some scenes in the climax are drawn out a little too long, and if the editing were crisper, the film’s thrilling impact could have been even greater.
Gandhari Movie Review: The Last Words
‘Gandhari’ isn’t just a common revenge or kidnapping thriller, but it’s the story of a mother’s unwavering love, her desire to live, and her desire to go to any extent to get justice. Kanika Dhillon’s writing and Devashish Makhija’s direction deserve praise for the way she mixes mythology with the nuances of a modern crime thriller. If you like dark, intense, raw action and strong emotional movies, ‘Gandhari’ on Netflix must be on your weekend list. The film clearly makes the eye connection between Gandhari and Bani of the Mahabharata. There, the blindfold was for the husband; here, darkness becomes the way to reach the daughter. The idea is good, but the film is not able to use this connection in much depth.
