Gangubai Kathiawadi

<p>In 1944, 16-year-old , born into an affluent family to a barrister in , aspires to become a actress and runs away from home with her older boyfriend Ramnik who promises her a film career under the tutelage of his aunt Sheela. Ramnik turns out to be a who sells Ganga to Sheela’s , where she is forced into and has her name changed to Gangu. There, Gangu introduces by advocating for to observe days off from work once a week. One night, a local goon Shaukat violently assaults Gangu, leaving her hospitalised. Hoping for justice, Gangu goes to Shaukat’s principled boss, leader , who is impressed with her confidence. Declaring her to be his sister, Rahim brutally beats Shaukat when he reappears at the brothel, causing Gangu to earn the adoration of fellow prostitutes. Nine years later, Gangu becomes the brothel’s after Sheela’s death. Henceforth, she is referred to as Gangubai, and goes on to become a powerful figure in , the red-light district of . In 1962, 14-year-old Madhu from is sold into prostitution at a brothel in Kamathipura. Unable to force her into becoming a , procurer Rashmibai requests Gangubai to persuade her. Gangubai meets Madhu and shares her story, eventually sending her back. Gangubai decides to stand as a candidate in the presidential elections of Kamathipura against the incumbent, a ruthless named Raziabai, who has won unopposed the last two years. With Rahim’s help, Gangubai arranges illegal alcohol sales from her brothel to raise money and improve the living standards of the prostitutes. After Raziabai’s failed attempt at arresting Gangubai, she broadcasts free in her neighbourhood, attracting Raziabai’s supporters. Furthermore, she between Roshni, the virgin daughter of fellow prostitute Kusum, and Afsaan, a tailor with whom she had a brief romance, by paying their and throwing a grand celebration, gaining further support. Gangubai wins the elections and starts advocating for the of prostitutes. While in office, she gets to call her family for the first time in twelve years and finds out her father has died and her family has not forgiven her for running away. After a grand celebration and a voluntary business refrain, Rahim informs Gangubai that a nearby girls’ school has started a campaign to evict prostitutes from the area over concerns of negative influences while a local builder wants to demolish the brothels to construct skyscrapers on their land. Gangubai protests, stating the prostitutes of Kamathipura will be homeless if evicted, and Rahim intimidates the builder’s agent. Gangubai visits the school principal to get the children from her brothel admitted into the school, paying their fees for five years and suggesting the implementation of their as a better way to abolish sex trade than forceful eviction. The girls are enrolled in front of sympathetic newspaper journalist Hamid but are thrown out by the nuns on their first day after she leaves. Hamid decides to publish Gangubai’s interview regarding the campaign in his newspaper to support her cause. Meanwhile, her friend Kamli dies after giving birth, and Gangubai takes in her child, Pammi. Hamid arranges for Gangubai to deliver a speech at a meeting held at . In her speech, Gangubai highlights societal viewpoints against her community, which label prostitutes as immoral but not the men who visit them and deprive their children of basic human rights. After her speech becomes popular, Hamid arranges a meeting with a local politician seeking her support in the . Since the school has filed a with the , Gangubai is assured a meeting with the , in . Gangubai requests the legalization of prostitution in the country, claiming her neighbourhood is constantly discriminated against and is on the edge of homelessness. The Prime Minister agrees to set up a committee to investigate the status of prostitution in the country and block the brothels in Kamathipura from being vacated. With the order being granted, the brothels of Kamathipura are prevented from being evicted, and Gangubai is widely celebrated in her area for her influence and . The news about an adaptation of one of the chapters of ‘s book first came out in June 2017 with attached to star as the . The film’s earlier title was . In March 2019, Chopra confirmed that she was working on a project with Bhansali, who also confirmed that he was making with Chopra. However, in September 2019, media reported that , who was supposed to do a different film, titled , by Bhansali was going to replace Chopra after got shelved. Principal photography begun in , on 27 December 2019. The film marks the debut of television personality , who portrays Gangubai’s boyfriend Afsaan. and TV actor to debut as the grey role of Ramnik Lala. Filming began in February 2019. Production was put on hold in March 2020 due to the ordered by the owing to the , when the film was 70% complete. Bhatt resumed work on 6 October 2020, and who is playing a cameo joined sets on 27 February 2021. The film was on 26 June 2021. The is composed by brothers , while the songs featured in the film are composed by with lyrics written by , and Bhojak Ashok “Anjam”. The Hindi version of the chours singer includes Tarannum Jain, Dipti Rege, Aditi Pradhudesai, Aditi Paul, Kalpana, Ruchna, Pragti. The Telugu version of the chours singer includes Sahithi Komanduri, P. Sathya Yamini, Harini Ivaturi, Aswhini Chepuri, V. Pavani. had its premiere on 16 February 2022 at , at the Berlinale Speciale Gala Section. The film was released in cinemas on 25 February 2022. Earlier, the film was scheduled for release on 30 July 2021 but it was postponed due to the rising cases and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then scheduled for worldwide release in theatres on 6 January 2022 but to avoid clash with S. S. Rajamouli’s , which would also get postponed due to of , the release has been changed to 18 February. Later, the date was pushed back by a week to release on 25 February 2022. The film was released in Hindi along with the Telugu-language dubbed version. The film is now streaming on from 26 April 2022. In June 2022, the film became the most-watched Indian film on . earned (US$1.2 million) at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected (US$1.6 million). On the third day, the film collected (US$1.8 million), taking total domestic weekend collection to (US$4.6 million). As of 14 April 2022 , the film grossed (US$18 million) in India and (US$6.6 million) overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of (US$25 million), recovering its budget and emerging as a commercial success. The film grossed over (US$25 million) worldwide, becoming . and stated that the film’s box-office verdict of a “hit”. received critical acclaim with major praise directed towards the performances (particularly Bhatt, Raaz, Maheshwari, Devgn and Pahwa), music, production design, cinematography, storyline and Bhansali’s direction. On the website , the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 22 reviews and an of 7/10. Sushri Sahu of gave the film a rating of four and a half out of five stars and wrote “Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s starring Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and others is an absolute crowd-puller. Mugdha Kapoor Safaya of gave the film a rating of four out of five stars and wrote “The film’s narrative is such that you will empathise with Gangu, root for her and cheer for her with every small victory, but never pity her.” Jagadish Angadi of gave the film a rating of four out of five stars and wrote “Alia Bhatt as Gangubai is exceptionally brilliant. The linear storytelling effectively highlights multiple conflicts of Gangubai. Wendy Ide of gave the film a rating of four out of five stars and wrote “The hard-hitting story of a sex worker who rises through the ranks of 60s gangland Mumbai is powered by a magnetic performance from Alia Bhatt”. Ronak Kotecha of gave a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote “With whatever is packed into this drama, there are enough moments that will draw you into this world where nights seem endless and the lights never fade.” of gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote “The visually sumptuous character study, more baroque than 1950s Bombay, is at once sweeping and intimate”. Tushar Joshi of gave a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote ” ‘s camera work, background score and dialogues are the three pillars that take it from being just another gutsy biopic to a film that creates a massive impact. Gangubai is a solid risk for both Bhansali and Alia. A risk that pays off beautifully for both the director and his muse”. Prathap Nair of gave a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote “Written by Bhansali and Utkarshini Vashishtha, it flips the narrative by handing out extraordinary concessions to the female lead at its heart, not entirely a frequent occurrence in Bollywood”. gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars, writing: “The Alia Bhatt-starrer is a powerful saga and is embellished with terrific moments and a career best performance by Alia Bhatt. At the box office, it has bright chances to score with the multiplex and female audiences”. of gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote ” is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali canvas and a complete Alia Bhatt show”. Sukanya Verma of gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote “Something in Alia has surely changed after . Her entire performance is about proving to herself and not to the world what she can do, feels Sukanya Verma”. Sanjana Jadhav of gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote “Alia Bhatt and the cast performances, Bhansali’s visuals and a sneak peek into this brutal world makes it a definite watch”. Devesh Sharma of gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote “SLB has again given us a film which keeps us glued to our seats for close to three hours”. of gave the film a rating of three out of five stars, writing, “Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest is the kind of old-fashioned dialogue-heavy, sentiment-on-sleeve film which Bollywood is forgetting how to make”. Monika Rawal Kukreja of wrote “Alia Bhatt…has given a superlative performance as Gangubai”. Anuj Kumar of wrote “This is easily Bhansali at his best as he has been able to marry craft with content; here, he attempts a for the millennials and almost succeeds”. Sonia Dedhia of wrote “Alia Bhatt practically disappears into the character of Gangubai Kathiawadi. There’s a hard-to-miss intensity in her eyes, and tenacity in her voice”. featured Alia Bhatt’s portrayal in their listing of the best big-screen performances of all time. Wendy Ide of named Bhatt’s performance in the film as the best performance of the year 2022. of listed Bhatt’s performance in the film as one of the ten best performances of 2022. of listed Bhatt’s performance in the film among the top five acclaimed female performances of 2022. of listed Bhatt as one of the top female performers of 2022. Sanyukta Thakare of listed Bhatt as one of the top female performers of the year. Santanu Das of listed Bhatt’s performance in the film as one of the best Indian film performances of 2022. Sakshi of listed Bhatt’s performance in the film as one of the best Indian film performances of 2022. Ananya Jain of listed Bhatt’s performance in the film as one of the best Indian film performances of 2022. staff listed Bhatt’s performance in the film as one of the best Bollywood female performances of 2022. of crowned as the best Hindi film of 2022. of ranked it as the third best Indian film of 2022. of listed it as one of the best films of 2022. of listed it as one of her top movies of 2022. Aparita Bhandari of listed it as one of the ten best Bollywood movies of 2022. listed it as one of the best Bollywood films of 2022. listed it as one of the highly acclaimed content-driven films of 2022. Corinne Sullivan and Jasmine Ting of listed it as one of the twenty best Bollywood movies of 2022. Allan Hunter of listed it as one of the ten best films of 2022. Siddhant Adlakha of listed it as one of the five best Indian films of 2022. Shomini Sen of listed it as one of the best Hindi films of 2022. Anuj Kumar of listed it as one of the best Hindi films of 2022. Nidhi Gupta of listed it as one of the best Bollywood movies of 2022. staff listed it as one of 2022’s best and most memorable releases in cinemas and on streaming platforms across different languages. Meenakshi Shedde of listed it as one of the top twenty best all-India films of 2022. is credited as one of the films which has revived the movie business post . It is considered as an for Bollywood since it was one of the few Hindi films to pull audiences back to the cinema halls after the pandemic. noted that commercial performance has given the much-needed hope to the industry that the box-office in the near future would fire up even more. They also noted Bhatt’s ability to shoulder a film on her own and stated, ‘‘Actresses often are not able to do so and need the help of a male actor to get audiences to cinemas. Alia, on the other hand, stands out and she doesn’t need any hero’s support. Without a male actor, she has managed to deliver a film that’s all set to enter the 100 crore club and that speaks volumes’’. Additionally, further noted that, there’s a belief that the cinema-going audience primarily consists of males. As a result, testosterone-driven films aimed at men would have a high chance of succeeding and fairer sex can’t make a film a hit. However, box office performance proves that even women audiences can take the film into the ‘hit’ or even the ‘super-hit’ zone. Bhatt’s look in inspired Malaysia’s Northern Haute Couture Fashion Show 2022. noted that proved to be a ‘‘rare-breakout’’ for a female-led Bollywood feature. Actress credited for encouraging her to do female-lead films. Cultural professor referred as Bhansali’s version of 1972 , . She drew parallels between Bhatt’s and ‘s character and wrote, “Gangubai may be seen as a version of Sahibjaan/ Pakeezah, who finds herself in the great modern city of Bombay/Mumbai rather than in the courtly world of the then Hindustan, just as Meena Kumari was a heroine of the post-Independence cinema, the way Alia Bhatt is of today’s post-Bollywood”. magazine called a modern-day classic and credited it for setting the stage for a shift in audience’s taste.</p>