A dramatic story rich in emotion and gorgeous cinematography, Gangubai Kathiawadi, is a celebration of the art and anguish of being a woman. In the movie, Sanjay Leela Bhansali again proves to be someone who stands at the top in that category. Alia Bhatt wasn't only a beautiful performer but also homaged every scene for her sensitivity to handling and gobsmacked everyone with her performance.
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Ajay Devgn, Jim Sarbh, Varun Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Synopsis:
The film starts with a close-up shot of an underage girl being decked up for sale. Blood oozes out and drips from her chin as her nose is forcibly pierced. The young girl keeps on protesting to free her from the brothel and the madame of the brothel asks Gangubai to convince her. The movie is basically about Gangubai.
A young girl Ganga, aspiring to be an actress, runs away from her house and reputed family, with her boyfriend to Bombay. She's been sold here in a brothel at Kamathipura for Rs. 1000 by her own boyfriend. After being duped and sold to a brothel, Ganga turns to Gangubai taking control of the world she once was a pawn in, utilising her underworld connections with Rahim Lala; the Don and Gangubai's rakhi brother to rule it.
Review:
As for the review, the movie was about stepping out from our superficial world to face the harsh realities of life, a rude but awakening one with Gangubai's political aspirations and her purported links with the underworld. Alia shines through the movie pulling out a veritable rabbit from under the hat. She exudes sincerity, vulnerability, shrewdness and the chutzpah that the role demands of her. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a master craftsman; turning the innards of Mumbai's Grant Roads into a desi Moulin Rouge. Ajay Devgn glowed even in a special appearance- a cameo role. Shantanu also played a good role of a tailor who once loved Gangubai, and sacrificed his love on saying of Gangubai to marry a fellow prostitute's daughter. Jim Sarbh played the beautiful role of notable journalist Faizi. Vijay Raaz had a small appearance in the movie as Razyabai but played his character well.
The chilling scenes in the movie set the tone of the supposed biopic on a real-life madame of Kamathipura. I liked how Alia Bhatt transform from the innocent Ganga to Gangu and finally Gangubai, the president of Kamathipura. The scene where she bathes in front of Alsaan is truly exotic, without being vulgar. Every dialogue will touch your heart and has connections with the story.
Flaws and Weakness:
I felt that the second half of the movie was rusting to an end the movie. Not enough screen time was given to Vijay Raaz's character Razyabai which ends in the middle. However, he has justified his character very nicely. The film does mention how the other prostitutes are ostracized from their societies and family due to their profession but it does not show why Gangu did not try to contact her family or try to escape earlier. Overall, though the movie lacks in some aspects, it is an awakening feminist movie which you should definitely watch.
Gangubai's story inspires downtrodden women and especially those from brothels and to a long extent tries to ameliorate women who work in brothels. We can see the adulation of Kamatipura's residents toward their great and majestic lady Gangubai throughout the movie. Her dialogues about truth and honesty- People think that we're dishonest....don't worry about it....you do your dishonest work with honesty.... full honesty., women- We keep fire in our hearts and a rose on our faces... We extinguish the lust of your men and we're proud to be women., When noble people come to our brothel..then we become famous and they get defamed., and woman empowerment- When women are the embodiment of all three; power, wealth and intelligence.. then what makes these men feel so superior. is heartwarming.
The movie makes us aware of some culprits who sell their daughters and sisters for a few bucks to sex traffickers and makes their lives worst than hell. In today's era also, women is treated as an object to complete sexual objectification. In this movie, we get to know that males who go to red light are for satisfy their hunger lust turns into protestors to ban all these red light areas. It also talks about the dignity of prostitutes through Gangu's words- I have more dignity than you ... ask me how ... if you lose your dignity once then it's gone forever ... but I sell my dignity every night ... and yet it never ends. It is a bitter truth that prostitutes are considered immoral. In the parallel world, where every sex worker was in the profession by choice and all people going to them should be viewed similarly.
I believe that prostitutes themselves aren't evil and neither are their jobs. They are usually broken and needy individuals seemingly trapped by the circumstances of their lives. More disturbing and evil is the man who demands fresh trade; sells women for money. It bothers me that society is making money off the back of these women; however, is not accepting them. We should be turning them around by helping them get back into society.
We have seen movies made on freedom fighters, sports personalities, political office bearers, underworld dons, and share market but here it's on a sex worker turned Mumbai Mafia Queen. The story was a true story about Gangubai Kathiawadi. So, here are some other details about her.
Gangubai Kathiawadi
Gangubai Kathiawadi was an Indian social activist, prostitute and madame of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai during the 1960s. Though the movie has shown her life story; she did a lot of work for sex workers and for the well-being of orphans. Her immense power always looked upon the betterment of sex workers and orphans kids and she always stood up for the rights of women who were sold into the work of prostitution. She is known to be one of the Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Gangubai even once met prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, who approved her proposal to protect the red light areas after looking towards her sagacity.
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