Highlights:
Taapsee Pannu’s Netflix thriller starts with a powerful premise, a mother hunting for her kidnapped daughter, but critics say its chaotic storytelling, excessive twists and tonal shifts overwhelm the film’s emotional core.
The Hollywood Reporter India: A “blinding mess”
The Hollywood Reporter India’s Rahul Desai delivered the harshest verdict, calling Gandhari “one of the worst Hindi films of the year” and describing it as a “blinding mess” disguised as a revenge thriller.
The film follows Bani (Taapsee Pannu), whose young daughter is kidnapped at a railway station. During the chase, Bani suffers temporary vision loss. She later pretends to remain blind while investigating the kidnapping and the child-trafficking network surrounding the fictional town of Joypurra.
Desai argues that the film struggles almost immediately with its storytelling. According to the review, Gandhari moves from one premise to another before eventually becoming a vigilante-mother thriller filled with twists, conspiracies and symbolism.
The mythology behind the title is also central to the story. In the Mahabharata, Gandhari blindfolds herself in solidarity with her blind husband, while Bani's journey reinterprets that idea through motherhood and action. However, the Hollywood Reporter India review felt the symbolism was too heavily explained rather than naturally integrated.
The review also criticized the film’s dialogue, editing, sound design and performances, arguing that its attempts to appear gritty and unconventional instead make it feel artificial.
The New Indian Express: An ambitious world without enough emotion
The New Indian Express was considerably more measured, awarding Gandhari 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewer BH Harsh acknowledged the film’s attempt at creating a distinctive universe through Joypurra, a mysterious town filled with outsiders, performers, tunnels and characters who appear to have dual identities.
But that world-building, the review argues, ultimately works against the film.
Harsh wrote that Gandhari remains too “plot-driven, rather than character-driven,” leaving audiences without a strong emotional connection to Bani. That becomes particularly problematic because the entire film depends on the audience understanding a mother’s desperation and determination to find her child.
The review did find some effective moments, particularly several unexpected twists and a confrontation involving an impossible moral choice. It also praised Mita Vashisth and Chhaya Kadam for bringing some grit to their smaller roles.
Taapsee Pannu, meanwhile, was credited for her physical commitment to the demanding action sequences, although the review felt the character was too familiar and that talented actors such as Ishwak Singh and Jatin Sarna were underused.
The Quint: The mother’s rage disappears into the noise
The Quint’s review was similarly critical, describing Gandhari as a “shrill, blurry, barely coherent movie” and questioning how the film reached its final cut.
The review particularly objected to the film’s pacing and editing. Montages, flashbacks and additional montages are layered together, while the story repeatedly introduces new characters and twists before properly developing what came before.
One of the film’s stranger developments comes when Bani, now apparently recovered from her temporary blindness, continues pretending to be blind while secretly investigating the trafficking operation. She is also trained by Jhunu Amba, played by Mita Vashisth, in fighting and heightened sensory awareness.
The Quint argues that the potentially interesting idea of Bani weaponizing her apparent vulnerability never fully works. Instead, the action shifts between gritty crime drama and exaggerated superhero-style sequences.
The review also singled out the background score and editing, saying they contribute to an “assault-on-the-senses” experience rather than building genuine tension.
Still, Taapsee’s commitment was recognized. The Quint described her as sincere and praised her physicality, even while arguing that the surrounding film was too weak for her performance to make the desired impact.
What Reddit viewers are saying
Audience reactions on Reddit have also been largely negative, although there are some reservations about the criticism.
In a discussion on r/NetflixIndia, one viewer called the film “okay to watch,” saying Taapsee fits the role but that her performance occasionally feels exaggerated. The same viewer praised the cinematography and background music, suggesting that the movie’s visual presentation was one of its stronger elements.
Another Reddit discussion was far harsher. A viewer on r/IndianOTTbestof called Gandhari the worst movie they had watched in 2026, criticizing its continuity, police portrayal and lengthy runtime. However, they also acknowledged that some of the fight scenes worked and that seeing a woman take on the film’s villains was satisfying.
The film’s most vocal Reddit criticism has focused on its acting and storytelling. One commenter complained about the dialogue delivery, while another criticized the unexplained shifts in Bani’s blindness and the film’s use of Bengali words and accents.
There is also some disappointment over Devashish Makhija’s involvement. In one discussion, viewers questioned why the film did not resemble the rawer style associated with his earlier work, particularly Joram.
That reaction echoes the professional reviews: the biggest disappointment appears to be not the premise itself, but the gap between what Gandhari seems capable of being and what ultimately reaches the screen.
A promising premise overwhelmed by execution
At its core, Gandhari has a straightforward emotional engine: a mother loses her child and refuses to stop looking for her. It adds mythology, child trafficking, vigilante action, a mysterious town and a woman who deliberately uses blindness as a disguise.
But the three major reviews largely agree that the film tries to do too much without giving its central relationship enough emotional weight.
For a thriller built around the most primal of fears, the loss of a child, that lack of emotional connection may be Gandhari’s biggest problem.
