Gangubai Kathiawadi – Review

 

Gangubai Kathiawadi – Review

 

• Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Screenplay: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Utkarshini Vashishtha
• Dialogue: Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha
• Story: Hussain Zaidi (story is based on a chapter from the Book- “Mafia Queens of Mumbai: Stories of women from the ganglands” written by Hussain Zaidi & Jane Borges)
• Producers: Jayantilal Gada, Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Starring: Alia Bhatt, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa, Ajay Devgn (Guest Appearance)
• Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee
• Editing: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Music: Sanchit Balhara, Ankit Balhara
• Movie Release: Feb 25, 2022
• Genre: Drama; loosely based on real life story.
• Length: 154 mins
• Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed
• Rating: **** (4/5)

 (The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)

White is the color of clouds, pearls, milk, snow, salt, paper, ice, swans…..it’s not just an illustrious  dialogue of the movie,  the color white is an unblemished marker for purity and I guess it can help illuminate the literal and figurative ills of society!  Hence Sanjay Leela Bhansali may have chosen the color white to clad the queen of the red-light district in shades of pristine white in stark contradiction to dark views on prostitution and sex trade.

 Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s artistry is not limited to the lead character of Gangubai, but reflected in the whole set and visual scenery. All the large scale scenes have the grandeur and aura of white and his whole movie has a white color scheme elevating the protagonist to a larger stature.

The movie is loosely based on the real life of Gangubai Kathiawadi. Based on the chapter The Matriarch of Kamathipura of the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, written by S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.  It chronicles the journey of a young, small town girl who gets conned with lure of Bollywood dreams to be sold in the lanes of Kamathipura, Bombay’s notorious red-light district.  Staging through the shameful, sad, painful times, to the strong fight- for- her- life stage, to an activist and advocate for the rights of fellow sex workers, to the queen of Kamathipura, crusading for the sex worker community, and lobbying for legalization of prostitution. Her journey is loaded with challenges, vile brothel madams, conflicting opponents, social stigma, police and politics which builds her to stand up strong for basic rights to education, banking, equality and dignity, for the sex workers and their children.

The empowered and feminist Gangubai who supports her sisterhood is nicely reflected in the equally powerful, feminist Bollywood movie about her, with exceptionally fiery dialogs, getting mouthed out by the female lead protagonist. Such audacity of strength and power used to be reserved for angry young man roles, in Amitabh Bachchan like movies only….. Towering applause goes to the dialog writers Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha for all the remarkable and outstanding dialogs. Interestingly the feministic part is reflected in paradox of how a sex worker like Gangubai shows importance of consent. Her love interest waits for her consent, the policeman is scared to touch her feet, and the goon is beaten up for trying to get violent with her. 

 And finally it’s time to applaud Alia Bhatt for her brilliant acting skills. She would not have been the first Bollywood actress one thinks of for a role of a sex worker.  But she has matured and grown as an actress to depict such complex emotions from pain to joy, fear to strength, shining in every moment. Her paused and impactful dialog delivery, her sweet expressions and confident swagger in this movie show she has the acting chops perfected.

 Ajay Devgn shows strength and power in his strut and gait in his brief role as the upright Pathan-don Rahim Lala. Jim Sarbh with his role as an encouraging journalist with his subtle performance adds interesting interludes. Seema Pahwa as the vile brothel madam, Vijay Raaz as the Trans Razia add some melodrama. Scenes with Indira Tiwari, Gangu’s friend, are full of pathos and pain, be it the letter writing one, in sickness, or the dead scene. Shantanu Maheswari as the shy love interest of Gangubai brings some old fashioned sweet and shy romance and cute moments to the movie to contrast the sad, bruised and tragic realities.

Bhansali who is known for his genius of visual production, adds glamour and grandeur and artfully downplays the painful details, suffering, sexual exploits and exploitations of sex workers.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is a well done movie and worth a watch. It’s in theatres now if you want to enjoy Bhansali’s visual artistry and Alia Bhatt’s larger than life role. It will be also released on Netflix later in the month.

 

 Gangubai Kathiawadi Trailer: