Gandhari Review: Taapsee Pannu's 'Thriller' Packs No Punches
· Free Press Journal
Title: Gandhari
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Director: Devashish Makhija
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Ishwak Singh, Swastika Mukherjee, Chhaya Kadam, Mita Vashisht, Prashant Narayanan
Where to watch: Netflix
Rating: 2 stars
Gandhari is about a mother (Taapsee Pannu) who is searching for her kidnapped daughter in a town named Joypurra. During the kidnapping, she loses her eyesight temporarily and must blend into a world involving child traffickers in order to find her daughter.
Actors' Performances
Taapsee's fight sequences remind one a bit of her breakout action sequence in Baby (2015), which got her noticed, but we only get to see a glimmer of it.
Mita Vashisht, who I found superb in Delhi Crime 3, makes her presence felt in her first scene itself, though later on, there's not much scope her character gets. It's welcoming to see Jatin Sarna as a no-nonsense cop, but again, his role ends up being one-dimensional, same for Ishwak Singh and Chhaya Kadam, though Chhaya's role gives her enough scope to display her acting chops.
Swastika Mukherjee probably has the most effective makeup, which aids in giving her that darker vibe which her character essays. It was an eyebrow-raising surprise when, after God knows how long, one got to see Prashant Narayanan in a role, a negative one, though by the time he steps in, it's way beyond late in saving the movie. However, he definitely does justice to whatever little time he is given in the end.
Story And Direction
While Gandhari serves as an important reminder regarding the modus operandi of kidnapping gangs, and hence not to leave your children out of sight in crowded places such as markets and railway platforms, the film packs no punch. The story really goes nowhere. You keep waiting, as the clock keeps ticking, that now finally would be the time when it would pick up, but it never does.
The whole Behrupiya angle could have been a sensational way to uplift the story, but it is wasted.
FPJ Verdict
Gandhari basically goes nowhere and gets lost with aimless wandering. While the premise it prepped us up for was so promising, it ultimately ends up going nowhere at all.