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Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: Ambitious Project, Average Outcome!

Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: Rewinding those great movies made over the years about a sex worker’s character, one of the very first classics I remember was Shen nu (1934), made by a Chinese filmmaker Wu Yonggang. That was the heart breaking story of a mother who had to abandon her son so that he would never have to take taunts from people for being a prostitute’s son. Then came The Life of Oharu (1952), which was about the struggle of a prostitute and her drowning career after her prime. The best film ever made about a sex worker’s career came in 1957 when Italian Master Federico Fellini conferred with his masterpiece, Nights of Cabiria.

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Gulzar’s poetic mind gave birth to Musam, and after this, Bollywood has not produced any significant movies based on sex workers, presumably because the content seemed socially damaging and defamatory. Sanjay Leela Bhansali planned Gangubai’s biopic almost a decade ago, somehow things didn’t go as per plan. Now, in 2022, he finished his dream project with one of the finest young actors in Bollywood.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is an ambitious film, and it shows the dedication of SLB on screen, but the story is not at all universal-friendly. This glorified tale of Gangubai doesn’t look glorifying because it was never meant to appeal to a normal and sophisticated audience. Yes, it may please the specific chunk of the audience who might love the feminine power shown in the film, and the entire Kamathipura section can have it screened every Sunday. But the family audience and the regular moviegoers will forget it right after the end credits.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is based on a chapter of Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai. It’s the story of Ganga Harjivandas, a Kathiawadi girl, who is sold by her boyfriend, and now has to embrace the ways of destiny and swing them in her favor. Gangubai Kathiwadi shows her journey of how she begins working as a sex worker and, in no time, marks her own territory, becoming Gangubai. The film then follows her political ambitions and meeting with the Prime Minister to save the roofs of about 4,000 sex workers in Kamathipura.

Alia Bhatt’s accent, looks, transformation, and dedication are top-notch in Gangubai Kathiawadi. Whether it was Highway’s climax scene or Raazi’s self-control scene, I have always loved seeing her in challenging scenes where she had to scream her stomach out, and in this movie, she outdid all of her previous performances. Coming to the negatives, first of all, it’s a long narrative. It’s almost 160 minutes long, and you have nothing to see that you couldn’t predict. The dialogues infused some life into this tedious story because they are fearless and powerful.

Sudeep Chatterjee’s camera work will leave you spellbound. The canvas, framework, displaying the naturalism of the sets, he has done an amazing job there. What the movie lacks the most is an engaging screenplay and a gripping line-up of events. The journey of Gangu never looks convincing because all the conflicts in her life end up without any strong results. Gangu becomes a Mafia queen, but do we see her in that chair? No. Gangu fights for the election, but what happens after that? We don’t know. Gangu sacrifices her love – just like that, and do we have any proper follow-up for that? No.

These questions will make you believe that Bhansali’s craft is not cement-proof. For some reason, he appears to have been missing something for quite some time. When he made prestigious stories, they were marked by controversies, and somehow he couldn’t surpass his cinematically best works like Black (2005) and Guzaarish. Gangubai Kathiawadi may not be as controversial as Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani or Padmaavat, but it is a much lower standard and damaged story in comparison.

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Of course, those three films had strong source material, while Gangubai is a niche one. Despite that, he still carries it through, with lots of struggle, of course. This script couldn’t have gotten a better execution, but does it have enough to offer? The answer is No. Moreover, it’s not a film that the entire family can sit together and watch. Overall, an ambitious project with an average outcome. Alia Bhatt’s impeccable performance and Ajay Devgn’s stellar cameo have somehow made it watchable. Watch it for them and nothing else.