Gangubai Kathiawadi Movie Review: Alia Bhatt Plays Her Trump Card & Wins Hearts Despite Lazy Writing

Story

With
a
thumri
playing
in
the
background,
we
see
a
pre
pubescent
girl
being
forcefully
readied
for
her
‘first
night’.
There’s
talcum
powder
smeared
on
her
face,
lipstick
dabbed
hurriedly
and
a
piece
of
cloth
pushed
into
her
mouth
to
muffle
her
cries
as
a
hand
roughly
pierces
her
nose
with
a
nose
pin.
Instead
of
the
speckle
of
blood
around
the
ornament,
it’s
her
vacant
eyes
which
catches
your
attention.

This
is
not
an
unlikely
sight
in
the
red-light
areas
of
Mumbai’s
Kamathipura
in
the
60s.
On
the
other
hand,
somewhere
in
Kathiawadi,
a
young
spirited
girl
Ganga
Harjeevandas
Kathiawadi
(Alia
Bhatt),
harbours
dreams
of
becoming
a
Bollywood
heroine.

Under
the
pretext
of
helping
her
in
achieving
movie
stardom,
her
boyfriend
Ramnik
coaxes
her
to
elope
with
him
to
Mumbai.
On
reaching
the
city,
the
smooth-talking
guy
sells
her
off
to
a
brothel
for
a
sum
of
thousand
rupees.
Left
with
no
other
choice,
Ganga
turns
a
prostitute
and
embraces
a
new
name
‘Gangubai’.

A
brutalized
encounter
with
a
customer
brings
her
face-to-face
with
one
of
the
city’s
most
revered
mobster
Rahim
Lala
(Ajay
Devgn)
who
aids
her
in
becoming
‘Gangubai-Mafia
Queen.’
With
her
shrewd
mind
and
underworld/political
connections,
Gangubai
soon
becomes
a
messiah
for
all
the
sex
workers
in
Kamathipura.

Direction

Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
picks
up
a
chapter
‘The
Matriarch
Of
Kamathipura’
from
Hussain
Zaidi-Jane
Borges’
novel
‘Mafia
Queens
Of
Mumbai’
and
fictionalizes
it
for
the
big
screen
with
Alia
Bhatt
stepping
into
the
shoes
of
real-life
brothel
madam
Gangubai
Kathiawadi.
While
he
keeps
his
narrative
revolutionary
to
tell
the
tale
of
a
woman
who
rose
from
the
ashes,
his
signature
touch
lingers
throughout
the
film
in
the
form
of
vibrant
frames
and
lingering
music.

On
the
flip
side,
it’s
the
writing
which
fails
us
this
time!
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
falls
short
of
weaving
an
engaging
screenplay
from
his
research
material.
Some
of
the
scenes
stand
out
individually
rather
than
making
a
mark
in
totality.
However,
the
dialogues
coupled
with
Alia
Bhatt’s
swag
do
earn
some
claps.

Performances

Amid
all
the
apprehensions
around
her
casting
in
the
film,
Alia
Bhatt
turns
out
to
be
deft
performer
instead.
Be
it
as
the
lively
Ganga
in
the
initial
scenes
or
the
sharp-tongued
Gangubai
who
is
a
perfect
combination
of
spunk
and
savagery
and
has
a
heart
of
gold,
the
actress
nails
every
shade
of
her
character’s
journey.

Seema
Pahwa
as
the
brothel
madam
Seemabai
and
Vijay
Raaz
as
the
trans
madam
Raziabai
play
their
parts
effectively
though
one
wished
that
Bhansali
had
added
more
depth
to
their
characters.
Shantanu
Maheshwari
makes
a
promising
debut
and
shares
an
affable
chemistry
with
Alia.
Ajay
Devgn
in
his
extended
guest
appearance
gets
to
mouth
some
mass
dialogues.
Jim
Sarbh
gets
some
crackling
moments
with
Alia.

Technical
Aspects

Speaking
about
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali’s
films,
the
maestro
filmmaker
has
a
Midas
touch
when
it
comes
to
the
aesthetic
value.
With
the
help
of
cinematographer
Sudeep
Chatterjee,
the
director
has
created
a
vintage
world
in

Gangubai
Kathiawadi.
Together,
the
duo
paint
Gangubai’s
world
in
shades
of
soft
hues,
pristine
whites
and
flamboyant
colors
in
contrast
to
the
vibrant
shades
of
the
outside
world.
When
it
comes
to
the
editing
part,
Bhansali’s
scissors
go
a
tad
blunt
which
takes
away
some
points
from
the
score
card.

Music

While
‘Meri
Jaan’
and
‘Jab
Saiyaan’
gives
us
a
glimpse
of
the
budding
romance
between
Gangubai
(Alia)
and
Afsaan
(Shantanu
Maheshwari),
‘Dholida’
captures
the
essence
of
Navratri.
‘Jhume
Re
Gori’
captivates
us
with
its
lively
beats.
On
the
other
hand,
the
qawaali
number
‘Shikayat’
make
us
go
‘waah
waah’
over
its
beautiful
lyrics.
Our
picks
from
the
music
album
are
‘Jab
Saiyaan’,
‘Shikayat’
and
‘Dholida’.

Verdict

One
of
the
scenes
in
the
film
features
Gangubai
Kathiawadi
addressing
a
crowd
of
women
and
saying,

“Shakti,
Sampatti,
Sadbudhi
–
teeno
hi
aurate
hai,
toh
inn
mardo
ko
kis
baat
ka
guroor
hai?”

Similarly
in
a
film
with
an
underlying
theme
of
woman
empowerment,
it’s
Alia
Bhatt
who
keeps
her
shoulders
sturdy
and
makes
sure
that

‘Gangu
chand
thhi
aur
chand
hi
rahegi’
till
the
end
credits
roll.