Gandhari Review: Taapsee Struggles to Salvage a Bland Thriller

Taapsee Pannu in Gandhari Review

BOTTOM LINE
Taapsee Struggles to Salvage a Bland Thriller

PLATFORM
Netflix

RUNTIME
1Hr 56Mins

What Is the Show About?

At a railway station, a couple, Bani and Gokul, lose their young daughter Mishty to kidnappers. Frustrated by a system that does not pay heed to her concerns and determined to win back the child, Bani ventures into Joypurra to dismantle a child-trafficking network. In her pursuit, she is assisted by an elderly woman, Jhunu Amba, who lost her granddaughter to the same gang.

Performances

Taapsee Pannu essays a full-length role steering the narrative, but the toothless writing and passionless execution do not make any worthwhile use of her presence. The generally mellowed Ishwak Singh is not handed a substantial role. Mita Vashisth shines briefly, and the reliable Chhaya Kadam is reduced to a footnote. Prashant Narayanan, Jatin Sarna, and others are strictly okay.

Analysis

Gandhari is a straightforward crime thriller riding on an extremely generic premise of a mother who blindfolds herself to tear through a trafficking network and rescue her kidnapped child. There is a lot of potential to build on the idea, but the Kanika Dhillon-backed film prefers to merely scrape through the surface, neither scoring big with emotion, detailing, nor thrills.

The mythological links, face paint, masks, and folk traditions, as suggested in the title and the backdrop, are of little value to the film. There are stock characters alongside a traumatised Bani: a mysterious elderly woman who guides her to a trafficking syndicate, a sincere cop who battles a corrupt system to uncover their links, and a relatively absent husband in a small town full of secrets.

The film could have been interesting if it were sincere in exploring Bani’s dual life as a woman who can see but chooses to remain blindfolded to find her daughter. All those around Bani conceal a secret that could lead her to the child. However, Gandhari chooses to reveal their identities as a last-minute resort in the climax to wake up a viewer from their slumber.

The modus operandi of the traffickers and the chinks in their armour are reduced to a joke. Bani unearths the secrets of a huge syndicate like a walk in the park. There is minimal struggle, and none of Bani’s efforts makes much impact. The screenplay fizzles out as it casually moves from one sequence to another, lacking any emotional weight or intensity. Bani’s pain barely comes through.

Forget the writing; the filmmaking is equally passionless. The staging of the crucial sequences, where the daughter gets kidnapped, Bani is locked in the perpetrator’s hideout, and the charged climax, is so mechanical and dull that it makes you question if the team believed in the material after all. Gandhari feels like an obligatory corporate project where everyone is paid well but no one’s interested in giving their best.

Gandhari never finds a way to bring its half-baked script alive and kicking. In a best-case scenario, it should have drawn a viewer into a messy, mythical dark world where Bani is surrounded by perils at every corner and finds a way to surmount them. The film needed breathing space for the character to evolve and for the narrative to build some momentum before all hell broke loose.

Taapsee Pannu, the last hope in this sinking ship, is not exactly electric with her performance either. One wonders who the target audience was for Gandhari. It is as good as boarding a vehicle leading you to nowhere.

Music and Other Departments?

The soundtrack, put together by Shor Police (comprising Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes), is relatively the more interesting side to an indifferent film and gives it a unique folksy, layered texture. The muted colour palette and the absence of a captivating visual atmosphere further dampen the viewing experience. Sincere sympathies to the editor, Rajesh Pandey, for his effort to make something out of this. The action choreography fails to add any excitement to the proceedings.

Highlights?

The last 30 to 40 minutes

A few action sequences

Drawbacks?

Dull execution

Poor writing

Hardly any emotion, thrills, or surprises to keep a viewer invested

Did I Enjoy It?

No

Will You Recommend It?

Not even if you are a fan of Taapsee Pannu’s choices.

Gandhari Netflix Movie Reviewed by M9 News