{
  "id": 5685969,
  "title": "‘They are unapologetic about being grey’: Taapsee Pannu on Kanika Dhillon’s women",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/they-are-unapologetic-about-being-grey-taapsee-pannu-on-kanika",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-05T01:39:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/they-are-unapologetic-about-being-grey-taapsee-pannu-on-kanika-dhillons-women-10863681/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Taapsee Pannu, returning to action films after a nine-year hiatus, collaborated with screenwriter Kanika Dhillon on her sixth movie, Gandhari. Dhillon presented Pannu with a five-line narration about a mother's desperate fight to rescue her kidnapped daughter. The emotional core of the story lies in the question of how far a mother would go to protect her child. Dhillon, making her foray into action filmmaking as a screenwriter, aimed to create an emotionally-charged drama set in the fictional town of Joypurra. Pannu, known for her roles in Baby (2015) and Naam Shabana (2017), underwent extensive preparation for her role as Bani, who loses her vision during the course of the film. She trained with someone who had experienced similar blindness and learned to navigate using a cane, climb stairs, and turn. Dhillon believes that the authenticity of the grey female characters written by her shines through in Gandhari, leaving a lasting impact on the audience. The duo's partnership thrives on creating unconventional women characters and surprising their audiences with their dark sense of humor and willingness to push each other to explore more exciting stories.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Taapsee Pannu returns to action films after nine-year break",
    "Kanika Dhillon writes emotionally-charged drama set in Joypurra",
    "Pannu trains for blindness role to ensure authenticity"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The collaboration between Taapsee Pannu and Kanika Dhillon cements their reputation for crafting complex, unconventional female characters that defy traditional moulds and leave a lasting impact on audiences.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}