Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) Review!!

Synopsis – A woman’s journey from being a helpless sex worker to a powerful social figure.

My Take – Ever since he broke on to the Indian screens with the emotional roller coaster, Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made it evident that he would only tell stories he wanted to tell rather than simply play by the rules of the industry, but instead customizing the audience to his style and vision.

Recognized as one of the most celebrated filmmakers in Indian cinema, his films from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) to Devdas (2002) to Bajirao Mastani (2015) and the controversy ridden blockbuster Padmaavat (2018), have garnered acclaim for his visual direction, lavish sets, gorgeous costumes, breath-taking visuals, larger than life characters and mesmerizing music along with an authentic screenplay backing it all up, with only 2007’s Saawariya being a major exception on the latter element.

His latest too is in the same vein, the same grandiose and almost the same color palette. Every frame screams it to be a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film as he dives deep into re-telling one woman’s journey from the world’s most ancient profession to a larger than life activist.

Based on a chapter from the 2011 book ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai’ written by Hussain S Zaidi with Jane Borges, the film documents the fascinating personality of Gangubai Harjivandas, better known as Gangubai Kothewali or Gangubai Kathiawadi, an Indian prostitute and madam of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai during the 1960s and her tragic life.

As one would expect, the result is an immersive experience that does not feel overly stretched even though it runs for 154 minutes. While it lacks a comparatively tighter screenplay, a gripping line-up of events, and is once again dependent on his trademark qualities including the Navaratri celebration song, the overhead shots and the razor-sharp monologues.

Yet, it still sees filmmaker Bhansali at his best as he is able to marry craft with content, along with expansive sets and cinematic opulence, all the while creating an enchanting world where pain and poetry coexist and have a lilting quality to it. However, the biggest takeaway of the film is how director Bhansali gets Alia Bhatt into the lead character and charges her with lifting the whole weight of the film, a responsibility which evolves into probably one the finest acts seen in a decade.

Beginning sometime in the 1950s, the story follows Ganga Harjivandas (Alia Bhatt), the daughter of a well-known Barrister, who elopes to Mumbai with her boyfriend, Ramnik (Varun Kapoor), all in the hopes of becoming a Bollywood starlet. Unfortunately, all her dreams come shattering down when she finds out that Ramnik instead conned her and sold her to a brothel madam, Sheela (Seema Pahwa) for a meager amount, to work as a prostitute.

Surrendering to her fate, Ganga relinquishes her birth name to become Gangubai and change her destiny of being just a helpless sex worker. Forming an alliance with well-respected gangster Rahim Lala (Ajay Devgn), Gangubai begins her upward journey fraught with challenges, opponents like trans-madam Raziabai (Vijay Raaz), heartbreaks, and a social stigma, which she fights to become the most powerful woman to ever live in the red-light district of Kamathipura in Mumbai.

The magnum opus once again proves why he is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of a filmmaker. Expectedly, the narrative takes time to build up, even slowing down along the way, as it shows Gangubai’s character transform through various stages in her life, but not without leaving an impact through some fiery dialogues and powerful moments.

Focusing mainly on Gangubai’s interactions with the people that came into her life, the bruises and heartaches that she suffered, and what she becomes by the end, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, doesn’t paint a breathless hagiography of a woman who rises up the social ladder by hook or crook and even manages to cuts scenes just before they threaten to enter the exploitative zone.

The film is filled with a number of scenes which stand out, like the one where Gangubai goes to meet her ace rival, trans madam Raziabai after foiling her plans to organize a massive rally to show her power ahead of the presidency elections in the red-light area.

Another impactful scene is the one where she lands unannounced in the office of a school principal to enroll children of sex-workers. And it is impossible to forget her speech at a huge rally organized for the betterment of sex-workers and the societal stigma set upon them.

Like every other Bhansali film, this one, too, is a visual delight. The only way you can enjoy the film is to embrace its extravagantly-constructed universe from the elaborate sets that make up the red-light area of Kamathipura that becomes the location of most of the film’s run-time, to the frames which look like paintings.

The film has evidently sanitized dark sections of her life in a bid to make her palatable as an activist and a leading lady for a conservative audience. But it never hinders the tale as a whole, as Gangubai’s journey keeps us hooked throughout.

Of course, the one person holding this all together is Alia Bhatt, who gives her heart and soul to Ganga, Gangu and Gangubai. Yes, it might take a while to feel comfortable with the idea of Alia playing this part, but with her ability to depict multiple emotions in one frame, through words, silences, and expressions she just grasps on to you.

Be it the body language or dialogues, she minimizes the element of acting in her performance. The way she delivers the much-loaded dialogues with supreme confidence, audacity and a killer instinct is indeed applause worthy. Believe it or not, she has outdone herself here.

Ajay Devgn as always leaves a solid impact. He hardly has four scenes to his name, but it is indeed a stellar performance. Shantanu Maheshwari as Gangu’s love interest puts out a fine performance, and the bitter-sweet moments between Gangu and him are among the more memorable parts of the film. In supporting roles, Seema Pahwa, Vijay Raaz, Indira Tiwari, and Jim Sarbh manage to stand out. On the whole, ‘Gangubai Kathiawad’ is yet another visually rich SLB period piece powered by a marvelously lively performance from Alia Bhatt.