Alia Bhatt as Gangubai Kathiawadi

Gangubai Kathiawadi full movie download Review Alia Bhatt shines as Bhansali’s story rises, sinks, and rises again

Alia Bhatt and Vijay Raaz pose in Gangubai Kathiawadi.

The life of an Indian sex worker, who campaigned for legalization of sex work more than 50 years ago,

is worthy of a movie. Gangubai Kathiawadi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s heroine, tells us that she did all this and more in the fight for women’s rights in an area where it was illegal as far back as 1960s.

Film is based upon Gangubai’s story as told in Jane Borges’ book, Mafia Queens from Mumbai. Gangubai Kathiawadi’s overt femininity is what sets Gangubai Kathiawadi apart, beyond the costumes, showy choreography, and art design that are typical of Bhansali productions.

Gangubai Kathiawadi appears to have sanctified Gangubai, possibly in an effort to make Gangubai more appealing as an activist and leading lady for conservative audiences.

Bhansali gives us a rose-tinted picture of Gangu. He does not give any details about how she maintained her business, which is what logic suggests. Gangubai Kathiawadi allowed her daughters to leave her care, but she also tried to keep sex workers’ daughters out of sexwork.

She stopped using pimps in her brothel and, after taking over a leadership position, opposed forced recruitments into this trade. How did she carry on her work, based on the principle of beimaanike kaam mein Imaandaari (honesty and dishonesty) after all these idealistic choices?

Ironically, Gangubai Kathiawadi calls for an end the hypocrisy in a society which patronises sexwork but denigrates it. This irony is because the film seems unwilling to uncover truths that might not have supported Gangu’s unblemished image and/or would have required nuanced writing.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is strong enough to continue, despite Alia Bhatt’s brilliant performance and presence in the title role. This keeps it going even when Bhansali gives in to the temptation to primp, primp, and beautify the most shabby scenes in his films.

The story follows Ganga (Bhatt), who travels with us from her childhood in a happy family to her marriage to Kamathipura.

This is a Mumbai area famous for its sex trading. She stays with Ganga through her trauma and finally to activism.

It’s heartening to watch Bhansali give Bhatt that treatment that Indian commercial cinema normally reserves for male stars in mencentric extravaganzas. A grand entrance and camerawork that lends an almost mythical aura to this petite woman is heartening.

Gangubai Kathiawadi movie Review Alia Bhatt shines as Bhansali’s story rises, sinks, and rises again

Alia Bhatt as Gangubai Kathiawadi

Gangubai Kathiawadi appears to have sanctified Gangubai, possibly in an effort to make Gangubai more appealing as an activist and leading lady for conservative audiences. Bhansali gives us a rose-tinted picture of Gangu.

He does not give any details about how she maintained her business, which is what logic suggests. Gangubai Kathiawadi allowed her daughters to leave her care, but she also tried to keep sex workers’ daughters out of sexwork.

She stopped using pimps in her brothel and, after taking over a leadership position, opposed forced recruitments into this trade. How did she carry on her work, based on the principle of beimaanike kaam mein Imaandaari (honesty and dishonesty) after all these idealistic choices?

Bhatt’s child-like frame and facial transformation is a result both of her hard work and teamwork. Her pronounced make-up, her hairstyles, and the fact that her facial structure appears to have been slightly expanded make her look a lot different than the infant-faced actor she meets at the beginning of the film.

Gangubai nee Ganga has made Gangubai nee Ganga’s gait, smile and poise grow. It is shocking that she mentions 15 years ago that she arrived in Kamathipura.

Her glowing skin seems to have remained the same despite all of these changes.

Commercial Hindi filmmakers can’t bear to think of a female star with a sagging or even slightly sagging face. This is the final frontier. Luminosity does not depend on a woman’s skin, it is her personality. Ms Bhatt has plenty of the former, but tell Bollywood.

All of this is secondary to Gangubai’s absorbing nature. She gives Gangubai a towering dignity and a playfulness that are both playful, steely, and broken hearts. Without seeming preoccupied, she is also remarkable with her accent and the raspy voice that she used for the role.

The narrative timeline becomes confusing when it doesn’t match the space between political and cultural references in real life.

Gangubai’s playful side is evident in her sweet relationship with Shantanu Maheshwari (an innocent local tailor), and their charming mode of communication.

Maheshwari is a great choice for Gangubai Kathiawadi. Ajay Devgn brings gravitas and a long cameo as a Mumbai gangster who was modeled on Karim Lala. Indira Tiwari’s Gangu’s friend at the brothel, and Jim Sarbh’s journalist role are both excellent, but Seema Pakhwa’s expressions are exaggerated by her makeup and camera angles.

Gangubai Kathiawadi appears to have sanctified Gangubai, possibly in an effort to make Gangubai more appealing as an activist and leading lady for conservative audiences. Bhansali gives us a rose-tinted picture of Gangu.

He does not give any details about how she maintained her business, which is what logic suggests. Gangubai Kathiawadi allowed her daughters to leave her care, but she also tried to keep sex workers’ daughters out of sexwork.

She stopped using pimps in her brothel and, after taking over a leadership position, opposed forced recruitments into this trade. How did she carry on her work, based on the principle of beimaanike kaam mein Imaandaari (honesty and dishonesty) after all these idealistic choices?

 

Bhatt is the film’s emotional center, but she sometimes has to compete against Bhansali for Bhansali’s excesses. Gangubai Kathiawadi is not boringly symmetrical or aesthetic like 2010’s Guzaarish. Neither does the director seek to emulate Padmaavat’s exhausting,

abrasive visual perfection in which even a Sati scene was transformed into a fashion show.

The film does however feature a number of unnecessary, but attractive-looking set pieces. Many of these are part of the Bhansali template and include hummable, but not memorable songs.

Sometimes the perfection can be too much. For example, when a sex worker is killed and her colleagues surround her like well-arranged figures who pose for a painting instead of flesh-and-blood grieving friends’ deaths. These segments erode the film’s soul and energy.

Even Vijay Raaz’s portrayal of Raziabai (transgender person) in Kamathipura is more like a striking photograph than a person. Bhansali has heard enough about transgender characters being cast in India over the years.

 Until a scene at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan ignites the otherwise ponderous narrative. In that scene, the protagonist’s senses of humor, oratorial skills, and charisma are all on full display.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is still a stronghold of fire, pizzazz, and radiance, namely Gangubai Kathiawadi and Bhatt. Even as Bhansali’s story rises, shines and sinks, it rises, falls, and rises again.

Until a scene at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan ignites the otherwise ponderous narrative. In that scene, the protagonist’s senses of humor, oratorial skills, and charisma are all on full display.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is still a stronghold of fire, pizzazz, and radiance, namely Gangubai Kathiawadi and Bhatt. Even as Bhansali’s story rises, shines and sinks, it rises, falls, and rises again.

Gangubai Kathiawadi appears to have sanctified Gangubai, possibly in an effort

to make Gangubai more appealing as an activist and leading lady for conservative audiences. Bhansali gives us a rose-tinted picture of Gangu.

He does not give any details about how she maintained her business, which is what logic suggests. Gangubai Kathiawadi allowed her daughters to leave her care,

but she also tried to keep sex workers’ daughters out of sexwork.

She stopped using pimps in her brothel and, after taking over a leadership position, opposed forced recruitments into this trade. How did she carry on her work, based on the principle of beimaanike kaam mein Imaandaari (honesty and dishonesty) after all these idealistic choices?

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