{"id":7501,"date":"2016-03-14T15:37:24","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T10:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501"},"modified":"2016-03-14T15:37:24","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T10:07:24","slug":"gangubai-kathiawadi-review-alia-bhatt-sanjay-leela-bhansali-ajay-devgn-madam-of-kamathipura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=7501","title":{"rendered":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"\nB<\/span>efore you walk into a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film you already have a sense of being transported into a space that you have only read about. Currently, the sole master of period dramas in India, who also happens to be a visual genius, Bhansali this time chooses a world that isn\u2019t embellished with kings and queens, shiny palaces and historic battle cries. Gangubai Kathiawadi\u2019s story is closer to reality, and doused in the grit and gumption of one woman who changed the fate of sex-workers in Mumbai in the 50s. This is the story of Gangubai, a woman who battled all odds to fight for the basic life rights of over 4000 women in Kamathipura. She was both a mafia don and mother India to those living a life outside of the moral high grounds of civil society. Understandably it\u2019s a character easy to render but difficult to embody.\n\n

This is the story of Gangubai, a woman who battled all odds to fight for the basic life rights of over 4000 women in Kamathipura.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nBhansali interprets this world with large glossy retro lenses, where we see a clean and classic Kamathipura in saturated earthy tones. The sky is always a single untouched shade of blue, and the lanes are dotted with stores selling gramophones and large music records. The last memorable cinematic rendition of this red-light district was Mira Nair\u2019s Salaam Bombay<\/em> where we smelled the smut and filth off the walls. It was maybe too close to reality for some. Bhansali\u2019s 50s version is far from it. \n\nProduction designers Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborty go all out to erect a set that almost feels like a dreamy recreation of what Kamathipura may have been. Stunning camerawork by Sudeep Chatterjee blows life into the set. The milieu is sanitized with vintage hues and though you know it\u2019s far from what the mohallas<\/em> would have looked like, the larger-than-life-ness draws you in. Gangubai strolls through the gullies of Kamathipura adorned with posters of then supremos of Hindi cinema like Dev Anand and Madhubala, giving us a glimpse into the golden era of Bombay city.\n\n

Gangubai Kathiawadi\u2019s story is closer to reality, and doused in the grit and gumption of one woman who changed the fate of sex-workers in Mumbai in the 50s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nThe film opens with Gangubai rescuing a young girl from the flesh trade she herself was thrown into when she came to Bombay to become a heroine. She was sold off by a boy she loved and trusted, and though fate failed her, she decided to turn it around. Alia Bhatt\u2019s transformation from a young girl to the matriarch who leads her gang of women towards a life of dignity, is swift, but riveting. Now here\u2019s an actor who from frame one sinks her nails so deep, that she becomes Gangu. \n\nYou think her petite personality might make it difficult for her to carry off playing a female don from the 50s but Alia makes up for it in performance. She arcs out every physical and emotional nuance that belongs to Gangubai and leaves little to chance. She builds an obvious baritone for this one, which weaves in the density Alia\u2019s girl-next-door persona lacks. It works, sometimes so well that you often see this 28-year-old girl effortlessly disappearing into soul of a woman whose world and wounds are so remarkably different from hers.\n\n

Bhansali interprets this world with large glossy retro lenses, where we see a clean and classic Kamathipura in saturated earthy tones.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nBe it some very deliberate dialogue-baazi, or scenes where she\u2019s being traumatised, Alia powers through the part fearlessly, and shoulders the film pretty much like a one-woman army. She delivers sharp punchlines like \u2018Izzat se jeeneka. Kisise baap se darneka nahi<\/em>,\u2019 with such nerve, that if this was a hero-led film, it\u2019d be inundated with whistles from audiences. Maybe it already is.\u00a0 She does full justice to some very gritty dialogue-writing by Prakash Kapadia and Utkarshini Vashishtha. After ten years of playing such varied roles, with Gangubai, Alia has built herself up to a point of versatility no other actor of her generation can match.\n\n

With Gangubai, Alia has built herself up to a point of versatility no other actor of her generation can match.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nThe supporting cast including Indita Tiwari, Ajay Devgn and Shantanu Maheshwari do a fine job of creating characters that run Gangu\u2019s world to form her core team. Seema Pawha somehow does a better job of playing the small town mummy than a brothel owner. Jim Sarbh is excellent as the wide eyed-journalist who brings Gangu\u2019s story to the world. Vijay Raaz as Razia Bai, Gangu\u2019s transgendered nemesis, is so intriguing that you wish the character was fleshed out better. \n\nThe screenplay in fact is so taken by its protagonist\u2019s achievements, that it doesn\u2019t really build any of the other characters well enough for us to feel for them. Bhansali mounts this purely as a tribute to Gangubai, and makes no bones about it. Scenes have been written in to show off her oratory skills and sequences have been stacked together to hail her success in slow motion. It\u2019s Bollywood-esque to the core.\n\n

Gangubai Kathiawadi is engaging, entertaining, and almost worth the penny you\u2019d pay for it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nA wholesome screenplay would have included sub-lives of others in Gangu\u2019s journey that would have added some depth to the film. But Bhansali\u2019s films have always been about what\u2019s on the pardah<\/em> than what\u2019s on paper, so you\u2019re not surprised when the film falters in pace and promise in its second half. He takes the writing for granted, and makes it up with grandiose on screen, and it\u2019s a serious but often overlooked loophole. He\u2019s edited this one and also composed the songs- of which\u00a0Jab Saiyaan<\/em>\u00a0sung by Shreya Ghoshal is among the most striking and soul-searching numbers I\u2019ve heard in recent times. Gangubai Kathiawadi is engaging, entertaining, and almost worth the penny you\u2019d pay for it.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[2597,1096,983,11588,11589,11590,11591,9335,11592,2838,961,7221],"class_list":["post-7501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-ajay-devgn","tag-alia-bhatt","tag-bombay","tag-bombay-underworld","tag-gangubai-kathiawadi","tag-gangubai-kathiawadi-review","tag-kamathipura","tag-karim-lala","tag-madam-of-kamathipura","tag-sanjay-leela-bhansali","tag-sex-work","tag-underworld"],"yoast_head":"\nGangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-14T10:07:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Divya Unny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Divya Unny\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Divya Unny\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0d08ebdd20042c576cfb56054335b28b\"},\"headline\":\"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-14T10:07:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501\"},\"wordCount\":1028,\"keywords\":[\"Ajay Devgn\",\"Alia Bhatt\",\"Bombay\",\"Bombay Underworld\",\"Gangubai Kathiawadi\",\"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review\",\"Kamathipura\",\"Karim Lala\",\"Madam Of Kamathipura\",\"sanjay leela bhansali\",\"Sex Work\",\"underworld\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pop Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501\",\"name\":\"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-14T10:07:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0d08ebdd20042c576cfb56054335b28b\"},\"description\":\"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=7501#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0d08ebdd20042c576cfb56054335b28b\",\"name\":\"Divya Unny\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a40c2cbde2773955712e9b206ef431ab39573377513ed4752bd45d2964be947f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a40c2cbde2773955712e9b206ef431ab39573377513ed4752bd45d2964be947f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a40c2cbde2773955712e9b206ef431ab39573377513ed4752bd45d2964be947f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Divya Unny\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=180\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase","description":"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase","og_description":"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-03-14T10:07:24+00:00","author":"Divya Unny","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase","twitter_description":"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Divya Unny","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501"},"author":{"name":"Divya Unny","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/0d08ebdd20042c576cfb56054335b28b"},"headline":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase","datePublished":"2016-03-14T10:07:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501"},"wordCount":1028,"keywords":["Ajay Devgn","Alia Bhatt","Bombay","Bombay Underworld","Gangubai Kathiawadi","Gangubai Kathiawadi Review","Kamathipura","Karim Lala","Madam Of Kamathipura","sanjay leela bhansali","Sex Work","underworld"],"articleSection":["Pop Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501","name":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-14T10:07:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/0d08ebdd20042c576cfb56054335b28b"},"description":"Alia Bhatt single-handedly shoulders this Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and while her performance is the key takeaway you can\u2019t help but feel that the script and writing could have helped her better.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=7501#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: A Memorable Alia Bhatt Showcase"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/0d08ebdd20042c576cfb56054335b28b","name":"Divya Unny","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a40c2cbde2773955712e9b206ef431ab39573377513ed4752bd45d2964be947f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a40c2cbde2773955712e9b206ef431ab39573377513ed4752bd45d2964be947f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a40c2cbde2773955712e9b206ef431ab39573377513ed4752bd45d2964be947f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Divya Unny"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=180"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}