Trailer Talk: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Maximalism Is Back With Gangubai Kathiawadi, Starring Alia Bhatt

Starring Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, the film is getting a theatrical release on February 25
Trailer Talk: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Maximalism Is Back With Gangubai Kathiawadi, Starring Alia Bhatt

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's aesthetic mode is maximalism. His nurse wears Sabyasachi. His poverty is snow white clothes. His sex-workers are wretched beauty. His homeless wear keys on strings attached to their shirts. Understandably, his underground world in Gangubai Kathiawadi, where the sex workers of Kamathipura bleed into the electoral and political landscape of 1960s Bombay, is alternatively neon and diya lit. We have Chicago Radio mics, Bentley cars, but the world is strikingly Bhansali-esque. 

The 3-minute trailer establishes Alia Bhatt as Gangubai, the feisty moon of the brothel who bows to neither pimp nor politician. Based on a chapter from Hussain Zaidi's book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, the film follows the odyssey of this real life figure through her politics. The film also stars Ajay Devgn, Vijay Raaz as a Hijra competing with Gangubai for Kamathipura, and Jim Sarbh. Gangubai is shown to be the saviour, plotting emancipation with Bhansali's signature humour and haughty masala. 

Earlier, Alia Bhatt was to star opposite Salman Khan for Bhansali's Inshallah. However, due to some differences between the actor and the director, the project got shelved, and as Khan moved to finishing Radhe, Bhansali mobilized the crew, including his cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee (who also shot Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat), for this film. The two films were expected to clash in the theaters last year, but Salman Khan's Eid release, Radhe, went directly to streaming with an extremely limited theatrical release. 

This film looks like both an extension and a deviation from Bhansali's filmography. The usage of the voiceover, something he started in Ram Leela and continued till his last film Padmaavat, is used even in this trailer, and perhaps will make it to the film. On the other hand, it is noted that this film won't have Bhatt perform any lip sync songs. The costumes look appropriate to the times and character — simple, mostly white and pastels, punctuated by slight ornamentation, oxidized silver earrings and bangles, leather handbags, payal and that big red bindi. 


Initially meant to release 30th July, 2021, the release date kept being pushed back with subsequent COVID-19 waves. We finally have a new release date. The film will have its world premiere at the  72nd Berlin International Film Festival, and will release in theaters on February 25th, 2022. 

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