 After Ishqiya (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011) and The Dirty Picture (2011), Kahaani was Vidya's fourth woman-centric film to win widespread praise for her unconventional approach to portraying strong female roles. According to Zee News, Kahaani is a woman's film about "role reversals, breaking of stereotypes, turning clichés inside out, a woman's journey, and the way she carves a niche for herself in the male-dominated mentalscape of the society." Trisha Gupta of The Indian Express also finds feminist themes in the film. For Ghosh, one aspect of his project "is a study of motherhood"; the instinct of a mother to protect her baby inspired him to develop the story.
