The Hindi film industry has delivered several notable female-led action films, including Alpha, the Mardaani franchise, NH10, Naam Shabana, Akira, Dhaakad and Raazi, among others. Joining the list of these films is another Taapsee Pannu film, Gandhari. Produced and written by Kanika Dhillon, the movie follows a mother’s relentless search for her abducted daughter in another city, and explores themes such as revenge and redemption. At the trailer launch of Gandhari on Tuesday, Taapsee and Kanika talked about their upcoming movie and women-led action films. 

Talking about women-led action films, producer Kanika Dhillon said, “Female-led action films mein kahaani ho, emotion ho, thrill ho, sirf ek mission na ho (Female-led action films should have stories, emotions, thrills, and not merely a mission).” Specifically discussing the Taapsee Pannu film Gandhari, the producer mentioned that their movie is a grounded story where a mother is looking for her lost daughter. “Several children are kidnapped in our nation, and this just isn’t statistics but it’s a loss. Gandhari is about how far a mother can go. The emotional scale is different.”

Taapsee Pannu added, “The benchmark of an action film is set very high but unfortunately, the budget of a female-centric film is very less. So, we need a very strong story and emotion, in which the action becomes the byproduct. We don’t see female action so frequently. I am not trained in martial arts in this film (laughs). Mujhe bas apna baccha chahiye, vaisa vala action dikhaya hai (I just need my child, and that’s the kind of action shown in Gandhari).”

Ek maa, ek beti aur behroopiyo ka sheher 🎭 Gandhari is coming to unmask everyone. pic.twitter.com/fBW575nqZA

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) August 25, 2026

Recently, the makers of Gandhari were accused of plagiarism by a writer named, Kalyan Bandi, who stated that Taapsee’s film bears similarities to his story of the same name, which he registered in 2019. Addressing this accusation for the first time, Ruchikaa Kapoor, Director, Netflix Original Films, said at the trailer launch, “At Netflix, we take originality and artistic attribution very seriously. I want to make it very clear here that we receive multiple pitches, and the pitch in question is very different from Kanika and Taapsee’s Gandhari.”