Gandhari Plagiarism Row Explained: Writer Kalyan Bandi Makes Claim, Taapsee Pannu Film’s Makers Deny It

Taapsee Pannu’s upcoming Netflix film Gandhari has entered a copyright dispute less than two weeks before its September 3 premiere, after writer Kalyan Bandi alleged that the film bears similarities to a story he says he developed years before Netflix announced the project.

The allegation is just that an allegation. Kathha Pictures, the production company founded by Gandhari writer-producer Kanika Dhillon, has formally rejected it and described the film as an original work developed by Dhillon and the company. There is currently no publicly available court ruling establishing that Gandhari copied Bandi’s work.

That distinction is essential because some online coverage has already framed the dispute as established “script theft.” The evidence presently available supports a more careful description: Bandi claims an earlier story and title were used without credit; Kathha Pictures unequivocally denies that accusation.

What has Kalyan Bandi alleged about Gandhari?

Bandi told India Today/Aaj Tak that he wrote a story titled Gandhari in 2019 and registered it that year. According to his account, his story centred on a mother confronting a child-trafficking network and transforming into a formidable avenging figure.

He further claimed that he contacted Monika Shergill through LinkedIn in 2019, when she was associated with Voot, and later sent an eight-page story along with a two-page synopsis. Bandi said the material was reviewed but that he was subsequently informed it did not fit the company’s commissioning requirements at the time.

Shergill is now a senior Netflix India executive.

There is at least some independently visible evidence that Bandi had publicly raised the issue before the current round of news coverage. LinkedIn search indexing shows comments under industry posts in which an account using his name referred to Gandhari as his script and title and said he had sent it years earlier. In another indexed comment, he directly referred to Netflix India’s official title announcement and asked how the project had come about.

Those comments support the fact that he has been making the claim publicly. They do not, by themselves, prove plagiarism.

Bandi says he sent a legal notice in 2025

Bandi also told India Today/Aaj Tak that he issued a legal notice in September 2025 seeking credit and financial compensation.

The publication states that it reviewed a copy of that notice.

The Celebrity Hour has not independently reviewed the underlying legal notice, the complete screenplay Bandi says he registered, his alleged 2019 submission, or the full screenplay of Netflix’s Gandhari. Those elements therefore remain attributed claims rather than independently established facts.

This is an important limitation. Determining copyright infringement usually requires considerably more than observing that two works share a broad premise such as a mother pursuing those who have harmed or abducted her child.

Kathha Pictures denies the allegations

Kathha Pictures responded publicly on August 24, rejecting the claims.

The company said it had become aware of allegations that Gandhari copied another person’s concept and used that person’s title, adding that the accusations were false and that it denied them “unequivocally.”

The production house further stated that Gandhari is an “original work” written and produced by Kanika Dhillon and developed by Kathha Pictures, with the story and screenplay being Dhillon’s own work.

Kathha Pictures also urged media outlets, digital platforms and the public not to circulate the plagiarism claim as an established fact.

That request is consistent with the current evidentiary position: an accusation has been made, but it has not been judicially established.

What Netflix officially announced about Gandhari in 2024

One of the most useful ways to assess the chronology is to return to Netflix’s own original announcement.

Netflix officially unveiled Gandhari on September 9, 2024, identifying Kanika Dhillon as its writer and producer and Taapsee Pannu as its lead. At that stage, Netflix described the project as an action thriller built around the relationship between a mother and her child.

The platform said audiences would see Pannu as a “fierce mom on a mission,” while Dhillon described the story as involving revenge, redemption and a mother’s ferocity.

Netflix’s verified India YouTube channel published the announcement on the same date with the description: “A mother’s love, against all odds.” It also identified Dhillon as writer-producer.

That establishes what Netflix was publicly saying about the film from September 2024 onward. It does not establish when Dhillon first conceived or wrote the underlying screenplay.

Netflix has now revealed more of Gandhari’s plot

The latest official Netflix material, released in August 2026, provides considerably more narrative detail.

Pannu plays Bani, a mother searching for her daughter in the fictional town of Joypurra. Netflix describes the film as an emotionally charged action thriller in which Bani enters an increasingly dangerous world while trying to find her child.

The film is directed by Devashish Makhija, whose previous work includes Bhonsle and Joram.

The confirmed ensemble cast includes Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee, Mita Vashisht and Jatin Sarna. Netflix has scheduled Gandhari to premiere globally on September 3, 2026.

Dhillon said in Netflix’s official release that Bani is a woman who refuses to be defined by her circumstances and described the character’s journey as raw, relentless and personal.

What similarities are actually being alleged?

This is where reporting needs particular caution.

Bandi says his story also involved a mother and a child-trafficking operation and that he had titled his project Gandhari. Netflix’s released synopsis establishes that Dhillon’s film concerns a mother searching for her daughter in a dangerous environment.

Those are points of comparison.

They are not, on their own, sufficient to establish copying.

A proper comparison would require access to the detailed expression of both works: character construction, scene progression, dialogue, specific incidents, sequence of events, dramatic structure and other original elements. Much of that material is not presently available for independent review, particularly because Netflix’s film has not yet premiered.

The title poses a separate issue. Bandi says he previously used Gandhari as the title of his work, but the Mahabharata character Gandhari is itself part of ancient Indian literature and mythology. Whether any legally protectable rights attach to Bandi’s particular use of the title would require a legal analysis beyond the currently available reporting.

The Celebrity Hour therefore does not describe either the title or the broad mother-on-a-mission premise as proof of infringement.

Netflix and Monika Shergill had not publicly answered Bandi’s individual claims

India Today/Aaj Tak reported that it contacted Netflix and Monika Shergill seeking responses to Bandi’s allegations but had not received replies from them by the time its report was published.

That should not be confused with the absence of a response from the film’s producers.

Kathha Pictures has responded directly and forcefully.

Netflix, meanwhile, continues to identify Dhillon as the writer and producer of Gandhari in its official material.

Gandhari reunites Taapsee Pannu and Kanika Dhillon

The project continues a creative partnership between Pannu and Dhillon that extends beyond a single franchise.

Their earlier collaborations include Manmarziyaan, Haseen Dillruba, Rashmi Rocket, Dunki and Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, although their precise creative capacities differed across those films.

For Netflix specifically, Gandhari follows Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba. When the new project was announced in 2024, Pannu said she had been looking for a role that would take her back into action after a long gap, while Dhillon described the film as their first action thriller together.

That context matters because Gandhari was positioned from its announcement as a deliberate change of register from Pannu’s Rani Kashyap in the Haseen Dillruba films.

The plagiarism dispute has now shifted attention from that creative transition to a question about the project’s authorship just before release.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The most responsible way to cover the Gandhari dispute is also the least sensational.

There are facts supporting the existence of a genuine dispute. Kalyan Bandi has made a specific authorship claim, has publicly raised the title with industry figures before this week’s coverage, and says he has documentation dating back to 2019. India Today/Aaj Tak says it has seen a legal notice he sent in 2025.

There are equally clear facts on the other side. Kathha Pictures says the allegation is false, identifies Kanika Dhillon as the original writer of the story and screenplay, and Netflix has publicly credited Dhillon as Gandhari’s writer since its September 2024 announcement.

What is missing is the evidence necessary for an independent conclusion about infringement.

The public does not currently have both complete scripts, their development records, the alleged original submission trail and an adjudication by a competent authority. The film itself has not even premiered.

That means headlines declaring the script “stolen” go further than the verified evidence permits. But dismissing the claimant merely because the production house has denied his allegation would be equally premature.

For now, this is accurately described as a contested authorship and plagiarism allegation, not a proven case of copying.

That distinction is especially important for entertainment journalism, where an allegation can become attached permanently to a filmmaker or project long before anyone establishes whether it is true.

Sources & Verification

The Celebrity Hour reviewed Netflix’s original September 2024 announcement of Gandhari, its verified title-announcement video and Netflix’s August 2026 release material confirming the current story premise, writer-producer, director, cast and September 3 premiere.

Kalyan Bandi’s allegations were checked against his interview with India Today/Aaj Tak and publicly indexed LinkedIn comments showing that he had previously raised questions about Gandhari. The publication states that it reviewed a September 2025 legal notice from Bandi; The Celebrity Hour has not independently inspected that document or Bandi’s complete registered screenplay, so those details remain attributed to him and to the publication that reviewed the notice.

Kathha Pictures’ August 24 statement has been independently corroborated across multiple reports reproducing its official social-media post. The company denies plagiarism and identifies Gandhari as Kanika Dhillon’s original story and screenplay.

No court judgment or other authoritative adjudication establishing plagiarism was identified during this review.