A mother’s wrath: ‘Gandhari’ redefines action and mythology
A new take on maternal love and vengeance
Gandhari, the upcoming Netflix thriller, is set to break new ground by blending high-octane action with the rich tapestry of Indian mythology. This film promises to be a game-changer, offering a fresh perspective on the lengths a mother will go to protect her child.
The creative minds behind ‘Gandhari’
In a recent discussion, actor Taapsee Pannu and writer-producer Kanika Dhillon shared insights into their latest collaboration. Dhillon describes the film as an “intense revenge action thriller” that revolves around a mother’s relentless quest to rescue her kidnapped child. “Gandhari is the story of a mom whose child has been snatched away from her, and what lengths she is going to go to get her daughter back,” Dhillon explained. “It’s emotional, it’s powerful. It’s a story of revenge and redemption.”
Taapsee Pannu’s new challenge
For Pannu, known for her roles in espionage action films like Baby and Naam Shabana, Gandhari represents a new kind of challenge. “I wanted to do action for quite some time,” Pannu said. “But what’s in trend today is something that I have done nine years back – to be a spy. It’s not really trendy enough because I have already done it twice over.”
Pannu emphasizes that Gandhari offers a different motivation for her character’s actions. “This becomes an altogether different drama, along with action, when you’re doing it not because you’ve been assigned a job or this is your mission, but because it’s something extremely personal,” she said. “It’s very emotion-driven and not goal-driven.”
A story born from personal experience
Dhillon, who is both writing and producing the film, reveals that the concept for Gandhari was inspired by her own experience of motherhood. “The seeds of Gandhari happened actually when I just delivered a baby,” she said. “Suddenly I felt that there is, literally, a before and after of an existence, in the sense that the fear that came with becoming a mother was so intense.”
The mythological roots of ‘Gandhari’
The film’s title refers to Gandhari, a character from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, known for voluntarily blindfolding herself for life after marrying a blind prince. Dhillon explains that the film goes beyond the well-known aspects of Gandhari’s story. “All of us are aware of the broad story of Gandhari, that she decided she was not going to look at the world or see the world because her husband cannot see. I wanted to interpret it a little differently for this one,” Dhillon says.
The director’s vision
The film is set to be directed by Devashish Makhija, whose credits include the hard-hitting Joram, Ajji, and Bhonsle. Both Pannu and Dhillon are excited about Makhija’s involvement. “The tension that this director creates, it’s palpable,” Dhillon said. “It can shock you. It moves you at the same time. With this sort of a story, with this emotional graph, we couldn’t have found a better director than Dev.”
Pannu added, “His excitement about the script is so contagious… and the kind of inputs that he had, the kind of research, or the special nuances that he brought to the story, I’m just so glad that we have someone who is equally excited like us to do this film.”
Preparing for the role
As for Pannu’s preparation for the physically demanding role, the actor reveals she’s been maintaining a fitness regime for years in anticipation of such a project. “I have been in a fitness regime for years, hoping that there’ll be one script that has come my way for which I don’t have to turn my world upside down suddenly, abruptly,” she said.
A fruitful partnership
Gandhari marks the sixth collaboration between Pannu and Dhillon, a partnership that began with Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan (2018) and continued with the Netflix original film Haseen Dillruba (2021) and its sequel Phir Aayi Haseen Dillruba (2024), ZEE5 Global film Rashmi Rocket (2021), and Rajkumar Hirani-directed hit Dunki (2023), headlined by Shah Rukh Khan.
“The stakes are getting higher, from the kind of stories to the characters to the scale of the film that we are collaborating on,” Pannu said.
Production timeline
Production on Gandhari is scheduled to begin in November, and fans are eagerly awaiting what promises to be a thrilling and emotionally charged cinematic experience.