Gangubai Kathiawadi

Gangubai Kathiawadi

Duped and sold to a brothel, a young woman fearlessly reclaims her power, using underworld connections to preside over the world she was once a pawn in.

  • Released: 2022-02-24
  • Runtime: 157 minutes
  • Genre: Crime, Drama
  • Stars: Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Jim Sarbh, Anmol Kajani, Huma Qureshi, Varun Kapoor, Chum Darang, Chhaya Kadam, Raza Murad, Sanjeev Jogtiyani, Rahul Vohra, Prashant Kumar, Mitali Jagtap, Pallavi Jadhav, Kruti Saxena, Sonal Sagore, Baldev Trehan, Jahangir Khan, Faiz Khan
  • Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
 Comments
  • ashishgera-08552 - 21 December 2023
    Good movie
    Gangubai Kathiawadi i am sure i cant tell everything i loved about this film because i loved every second. Wow what a peice of art this is how can this man keep making classics without any distractions i think this is my most of sanjay leela bhansali. I can never imagine how come her picturised alia to play gangubai how did he even see it no one before seeing the film would have felt right but after watching you can never even have a glance of anyother leading lady here. Wow Alia is something else i knew she is a beautiful performer but here she has just gobsmacked everyone with her performance i dint expect this much from alia and now i am left speechless every frame is aesthetic with its own beauty and she just lives as gangubai the only wish i had was even gangubai was alive she would have felt the best because sanjay and alia just homaged every scene for her being a sensitive topic to handle sanjay leaves us with a heavy heart about what kamathipuram is. Starting from the entry shot of alia i think this is the best heroin entry of indian cinema she has closeups before revealing the face which is always a hero material after this built up alia appers in front of us and slowly makes us forget the alia she is and makes us belive she is gangubai.
  • jainnaman-62208 - 22 June 2023
    A must-watch, filled with aesthetics!
    Primarily, justifying why the audience regarded this movie as 'flop' and did not enjoy it much - it is well-known to all that Indian audience still considers cinema as a source of entertainment ONLY. However, this movie, being a slow-paced and 'boring' account of a very sensitive topic, was rather filled with 'content' than with entertainment. And this exactly is why it failed to receive an initial positive response from the general public, who rather dismissed it by saying "dekhte dekhte neend hi aa rahi thi." Moreover, the movie speaks about certain POVs regarding legalizing prostitution, that might be offensive and controversial, as they "seemed" to be against the general norms of the society. However, one should be mindful of and realize that it is not the makers' intentions to foster prostitution in India; the movie is just a portrayal of a personality who supported prostitution backed-up by law.

    Speaking of the positives first. Alia Bhatt was just PHE-NO-ME-NAL in the titular role and her performance is undoubtedly the best of hers till date. Having said that, I personally also feel that Kangana Ranaut deserved this role more than Alia did, and would definitely have performed it better than the latter. However, Alia Bhatt justified the role 100%, while Vijay Raaz's performance was commendable too.

    The one thing I love the most about Sanjay Leela Bhansali is that except acting, he does EVERYTHING in his movies - direction, screenplay/writing, production, music composition and editing. This helps him have complete control over the project, and gives him a much stronger vision about the movie. And this happened in Gangubai Kathiawadi as well! The direction and screenplay were well done (with a few flaws which are mentioned in the later part of this review); with the dialogues being MIND BLOWING. And when I say mind blowing, I mean mind blowing. The music, as usual, was top-notch, and it definitely had to be so as it came from one of the best music composers of BWood.

    Bhansali is well-known for his beautiful presentation of aesthetic visuals, and yet again he proves why he's the best at it. The entire white-theme was a treat to the eyes, while the protagonist's costumes (and physical look) being beautifully dressed. Special mention to the ending scene where thousands of strips of white paper are showered upon Gangubai to celebrate her! It ought to leave you astonished.

    Special mentions also to be given to the entire one-shot scene of the song "meri jaan" which was performed exceptionally well by Alia and Shantanu. I love how that 2 minute sequence shows every single emotion Gangubai has in her heart - right from the "brutal acceptance of her fate" to "the pleasure of actually falling in love with a person rather than just satisfying someone's lust" the song covers a diverse set of emotions.

    The monologue at the end was again well written and performed; however this is where the controversy might be triggered.

    As I said earlier that the movie might seem to be boring, here comes the negative aspect. No matter what, I am adamant about the fact that Bhansali always ends of messing somewhere or the other. The movie was VERY slow-paced, and it majorly lacked the excitement of what-would-happen-next that we all have while watching any film. Moreover, the transition between one major segment of the movie to another one was very erratic. It was as if the next part came out of nowhere, without giving a proper conclusion to the previous part/scene. This hampered with the smooth flow of events in the movie, and it rather felt as if 5-6 major parts of Gangubai's life were adapted and just put together in the form of a movie, without any proper link or transition between 2 parts. This could be the result of flaws in editing process of the movie. Lastly, the movie also contained some strong anti-social statements.

    Having said ALL OF IT, Gangubai Kathiawadi is unquestionably a movie that one should not miss. It showcases a completely new and unique perspective about prostitution (and its legalization) in India, and portrays it effectively through the character of an eminent personality who worked towards the dignity of sex workers. Reiterating, the movie is filled with A LOT OF content and aesthetics, that you should not miss.

    Definitely a must-watch!!
  • miragh - 29 November 2022
    Perpetual victim Alia Bhatt
    Really bad movie made worse by the casting of Alia Bhatt. Sorry that I wasted my time on this.

    I feel really sorry for the generation for which Alia Bhatt is touted as a great actor!!! Seriously, people???? She pulls the same irritating cry baby face in all her movies -- takes on roles where she is a sorry victim of some sort -- highway, udta punjab, gangubai, darlings etc so she can give us her annoying cry-baby face and then her PR sees to it that she gets nominated for some award. Totally overrated and yes if not for nepotism she would never had gotten her foot anywhere near a bollywood set.
  • ksiraj-61833 - 25 August 2022
    This movie deserve an academy Award ,alia bhatt acting is excellent, gangubai khathiawadi my eyes got tears.
    This movie has very deepest meaning, what a brilliant performance by alia bhatt incredible story line by hussain zaidi and sanjay leela bhansali direction is excellent, this is one of the finest film to come out of india in a long time, it shows reality of late gangubai khathiawadi she's fought for women's who doings prostitution because they didn't have choice hats off to her work I literally cried when I was watching, this is my one of the favourite movie of alia bhatt her performance dialogue delivery face expression is no word she had played incredible performance maybe this movie is failed in box office but won millions of hearts The fact is every human deserve respect whoever they are, prostitute have right to live respectfully, and ajay devgn extended guest appearance is blew my mind he was perfectionist he proved and alia too, and vijay raaz also did his best in special appearance his acting as transgender he act very well gangubai khathiawadi was overall impeccable, it just made my day I didn't think the movie could be that good, Finally I can say that bollywood has a good movie, I literally enjoyed the movie throughout, and the songs are also nice garba dance background score, salute to late gangubai she had done brilliant work in her era for prostitution most of the audience never heard about her some people may know because hussain zaidi noval only one motive of this film every human has right to leave respectfully she also said women's is the magnificence of indian culture and indian goddess,this movie exceeded my expectations,outstanding blockbuster film that exceeds expectations do watch this film because it's worthy, I can also say that alia bhatt acting is way better her performance and acting skills has no example, Hats off to alia you are best in what you do, what a versatile actress, a movie that deserve 10/10, you will also agree when you watch this movie, gangubai khathiawadi deserves the best movie of the year, What a legend is alia bhatt and ajay devgn, hussain zaidi story line and sanjay direction is somewhat amazing to hindi cinema,confident that you knew what was in store, not expecting to be surprised you'd be right and wrong, what a brilliant movie and and hussain zaidi deserves best script writer of this film what a picture cinema at its finest gangubai khathiawadi is the high energy sad emotional exhilarating motion picture cinemas and audiences need-and-it's full throttle heart! Furthermore, the absolutely brilliant combination of screenwriting, directing, and all the technical elements combine to acknowledge and build upon the nostalgia greatest movie of 2022..
  • mysf71 - 8 August 2022
    Powerful acting....good making
    The movie is a high class stuff. Powerful acting by Alia Bhatt although. It was she alone who had the light...The storyline is good and so is the cinematography. Great piece!