CAST: Aliaa Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Huma Qureshi, Indra Tiwari, Seema Pahwa, Varun Kapoor
DIRECTOR : Sanjay Leela Bhansali
BLUF: :Loosely based on the true story of Gangubai Harjivandas, popularly known as Gangubai Kothewali, whose life was documented in the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai written by S. Hussain Zaidi. The film depicts the rise of a simple girl from Kathiawadi who had no choice but to embrace the ways of destiny and swing it in her favour.
THE MEAT AND THE POTATOES
Based on S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges’ book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi, the movie chronicles the story of Ganga, a small town girl who leaves home to be an actress but finds herself sold to a brothel in Mumbai by the very love of her life for a thousand rupees.
She makes her way through the lanes of Kamathipura to fight for the rights of women of that area. She was the first one to talk about legalization of prostitution as an occupation.
IN THE KNOW
Director Sanjay Leela bhansali walks the audience through the eyes of Gangubai, who is neither an angel nor the devil but just a common woman who worked her circumstances to create a better work environment for the sex workers.
As she accepts her fate, Ganga baptizes herself as Gangu, and ultimately Gangubai, creating a home for herself in Kamathipura. The brothel girls become her best friends and her family. The movie documents her life and journey, her challenges and her opponents and how she converts a social stigma into a social cause.
Ganga’s character transformation through various milestones of her life are very beautifully captured. Whether it is her love for Afshan, the sacrifice of the same love to ensure a kid has a future, her audacity, her fearlessness, her vision and clarity – the story is rich and SLB does justice to it in every frame.
Aliaa Bhatt creates a larger-than-life Gangubhai very convincingly. Her growth into the character is a perfect arc and she aces the role like a pro. Mind blowing performance.
Ajay Devgn, even in his brief role as Rahim Lala, fills the screen up with a solid screen presence. Seema Pahwa, Vijay Raaz, and Jim Sarbh are well cast and come through in their characters. Shantanu Maheshwari as Afshan is fresh, desirable and naïve all at the same time and creates fabulous chemistry with Aliaa’s Gangu.
The screenplay is sharp, the camera and the lens extremely Bhansali in its weave and pans.
The colors, the old Mumbai feel, the time and place details, the posters from that era, the fabrics and language are delicately enmeshed into the narrative and are exquisitely presented in a la Bhansali style.
Music fits in perfectly with the mood of each sequence and some of the tunes have the capability to grow addictive as you listen to them.
Even while panning the story of the darkest lanes of the human trafficking district, each element in the frame is carefully placed and almost like a piece of art.
Gangubai was also called Mumbai’s Mafia Queen. Although the movie ends on a high note, we are sure there could have been more stories to be told here.
A truly memorable movie
WHAT WE LOVED
Every damn frame
Music
Actors
Direction
WHAT WE MISSED
More of the supporting cast
