Alia Bhatt will play the role of Gangubai Kathiawadi.
Actress Alia Bhatt will next be seen in Gangubai Kathiawadi, in which she will play the titular role. Gangubai Kathiawadi is based on the life of Gangubai Kathewali, owner of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai. The teaser for the film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was released on Wednesday and gives viewers a glimpse into the life of the powerful woman Alia Bhatt is set to portray on screen. Controversial but formidable figure of the 1960s, the story of Gangubai was documented by author and journalist Hussain Zaidi in his book Mafia Queens Of Mumbai.
In his book, Mr. Zaidi describes Gangubai as a small woman – barely five feet – who commanded immense respect in Kamathipura.
Gangubai was born Ganga Harjeevandas in the village of Kathiawad in Gujarat in the 1940s. When she was young, Ganga ran away from home after secretly marrying her father’s accountant, Ramnik Laal. The two arrived in Mumbai, where Ramnik cheated on her and sold her into prostitution for Rs 500.
According to the details provided in Mafia Queens Of Mumbai, Ganga dropped her original name and became Gangu at this point.
After a difficult start, Gangubai rose through the ranks, helped by her connections with the Mumbai underworld. Gangubai was known to be under the protection of Karim Lala – who is infamous today as one of the three Mumbai Mafiosi. They say she even tied a rakhi on Karim Lala’s wrist after promising to protect her from one of his henchmen who had raped Gangubai twice.
Gangubai started out as a sex worker in Kamathipura and continued to own and manage several brothels in the area. She took the name “Kathewali” when she won the local “gharwali” elections to become a brothel madam at a young age. These elections are held to determine the ranks among sex workers in Kamathipura.
In his book, Mr. Zaidi notes that Gangubai was famous for never pushing a woman into the sex trade against her will. Instead, she was known as “the only brothel lady who didn’t prioritize business and money but women”.
“Strength. Power. Fear”, this was how Sanjay Leela Bhansali described the character of Alia Bhatt.
Gangubai Kathiawadi will be released on July 30.
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