Gangubai Kathiawadi is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language biographical crime drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bhansali and Jayantilal Gada. Based on the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai by S. Hussain Zaidi, it tells the story of Gangubai Kathiawadi, a simple girl from Kathiawad who is forced into prostitution and later rises to become a madam and an influential figure in Bombay's red-light area. The film stars Alia Bhatt in the title role, alongside Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa, Jim Sarbh and Ajay Devgn.
Gangubai Kathiawadi premiered at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival on 16 February 2022, and was released in theatres on 25 February 2022. It received widespread critical acclaim for its themes, direction, production value and Bhatt's performance. The film grossed ā¹153.69 crore (US$16Ā million) at the domestic box office and ā¹209.77 crore (US$22Ā million) globally, emerging as a commercial success. Numerous publications listed Gangubai Kathiawadi and Bhatt's performance in the film on various year-end best films and performances lists of 2022.
The film has received various accolades. At the 69th National Film Awards, Gangubai Kathiawadi won 5 awards, including Best Actress (Bhatt) and Best Screenplay (Bhansali and Vashishtha). At the 68th Filmfare Awards, the film received a leading 17 nominations and won a leading 11 awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Bhansali), and Best Actress (Bhatt).
Plot
In 1944 Kathiawad, 16-year-old Ganga Jagjivandas Kathiawadi aspires to become a Bollywood actress. Her lover, Ramnik, tricks her with promises of a film career and lures her to Bombay, where he sells her for ā¹1,000 to a brothel in Kamathipura run by an abusive pimp, Sheela. Forced into prostitution, Ganga renames herself Gangubai and learns to survive in the brothel.
After being brutally assaulted by a violent client named Shaukat Khan, Gangubai seeks justice from his boss Rahim Lala, the local underworld don. Impressed by her courage, Lala adopts her as his sworn sister, brutally punishes Shaukat, and extends his protection to her and the women of Kamathipura.
Following Sheela's death, Gangubai runs for election as the President of Kamathipura against Raziabai, a formidable transgender opponent. Following a brief romance with a Bihari Muslim tailor Afsaan, she heavy-heartedly arranges for his marriage with Roshni, the daughter of a fellow prostitute, to protect her from being forced into sex work. Winning the election, she transforms the local brothel culture, fighting to secure basic rights, dignity, and education for sex workers and their children.
Following a grand Navaratri celebration, Rahim informs Gangubai about a local school that initiated a campaign to evict the prostitutes from Kamathipura, citing negative influence on the students. Gangubai protests the campaign and confronts the school's principal, arguing that educating the children of Kamathipura is the only way to abolish sex trade and usher in a positive change for their future. She forces him into admitting the children, paying their fees for five years.
However, the children are forcibly evicted from the school on the first day. Outraged, Gangubai seeks assistance of a sympathetic journalist, Hamid Faizi, and delivers a powerful speech at a rally in Azad Maidan, advocating for equal human rights. Her speech leads to a personal meeting with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who is moved by her plea and promises to protect Kamathipura from real estate developers attempting to evict the women.
Returning home victorious, she receives a grand welcome and secures her status as the matriarch of Kamathipura.
Development
The news about an adaptation of one of the chapters of Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai first came out in June 2017 with Priyanka Chopra attached to star as the leading character. The film's earlier title was Heera Mandi. In March 2019, Chopra confirmed that she was working on a project with Bhansali, who also confirmed that he was making Gangubai Kathiawadi with Chopra. However, in September 2019, media reported that Alia Bhatt, who was supposed to do a different film, titled Inshallah, by Bhansali was going to replace Chopra after Inshallah got shelved. Principal photography begun in Film City, Mumbai on 27 December 2019.
Casting
The film marks the Hindi cinema debut of television personality Shantanu Maheshwari, who portrays Gangubai's boyfriend Afsaan. and TV actor Varun Kapoor to debut as the grey role of Ramnik Lala.
Filming
Filming began in February 2019. Production was put on hold in March 2020 due to the lockdown ordered by the Indian government owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the film was 70% complete. Bhatt resumed work on 6 October 2020, and Ajay Devgn who is playing a cameo joined sets on 27 February 2021. The film was wrapped up on 26 June 2021.
Soundtrack
The film score is composed by brothers Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara, while the songs featured in the film are composed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali with lyrics written by A. M. Turaz, Kumaar and Bhojak Ashok "Anjam". The Hindi version of the chorus 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.
Theatrical
Gangubai Kathiawadi had its premiere on 16 February 2022 at 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, 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 to avoid clashing with S. S. Rajamouli's RRR, which would also get postponed due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the release has been changed to 18 February 2022. Later, the date was pushed back by a week to release on 25 February 2022.
The film was released in its original Hindi language along with a dubbed version in the Telugu language.
Box office
Gangubai Kathiawadi earned ā¹10.50 crore (US$1.1Ā million) at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected ā¹13.32 crore (US$1.4Ā million). On the third day, the film collected ā¹15.30 crore (US$1.6Ā million), taking total domestic weekend collection to ā¹39.12 crore (US$4.1Ā million).
As of 14Ā AprilĀ 2022[update], the film grossed ā¹153.69 crore (US$16Ā million) in India and ā¹55.56 crore (US$5.8Ā million) overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of ā¹209.25 crore (US$22Ā million), recovering its budget and emerging as a commercial success. The film grossed over ā¹209.77 crore (US$22Ā million) worldwide, becoming the fifth highest grossing Hindi films of 2022. Bollywood Hungama and Box Office India stated that the film's box-office verdict of a "hit".
Critical response
Gangubai Kathiawadi 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 review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 22 reviews and an average rating of 7/10.
Sushri Sahu of Mashable gave the film a rating of four and a half out of five stars and wrote "Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi starring Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn and others is an absolute crowd-puller. Mugdha Kapoor Safaya of DNA India 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 Deccan Herald 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 The Observer 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 The Times of India 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." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV 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 India Today gave a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote "Gangubai Kathiawadi'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 Firstpost 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". Bollywood Hungama gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars, writing: "The Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi 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". Stutee Ghosh of The Quint gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote "Gangubai Kathiawadi is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali canvas and a complete Alia Bhatt show".
Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave the film a rating of three and a half out of five stars and wrote "Something in Alia has surely changed after Gangubai. Her entire performance is about proving to herself and not to the world what she can do, feels Sukanya Verma". Sanjana Jadhav of Pinkvilla 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 Filmfare 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". Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express 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 Hindustan Times wrote "Alia Bhatt...has given a superlative performance as Gangubai". Anuj Kumar of The Hindu wrote "This is easily Bhansali at his best as he has been able to marry craft with content; here, he attempts a Pakeezah for the millennials and almost succeeds". Sonia Dedhia of News18 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".
