Gangubai Kathiawadi releases on Feb 25
Highlights
- Gangubai's family is trying to stop the release of Gangubai Kathiawadi
- The family of Gangubai claims that she has been wrongly portrayed as a 'prostitute' in the film
- Gangubai Kathiawadi is set in Mumbai's red light district in the 1950s and 60s
Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi is all set to release in cinema halls on February 25. The Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed film, based on a chapter from writer S Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, features Alia as Gangubai, one of the most powerful, loved and respected madams from Kamathipura during the 1960s.
Ahead of the film's release, the makers have been facing legal hurdles. As many as three petitions were filed in court that objected to the use of the area's (Kamathipura) name in the movie claiming it shows the place in a bad light which may besmirch and defame the residents there. A Congress MLA also claimed to have received several letters from residents of Kamathipura seeking for their area's name to be not used in the movie. However, the Bombay High Court dismissed all the pleas against the film and cleared it to release in cinema halls as per the scheduled date.
Meanwhile, the family of Gangubai Harjivandas, on whom the movie is based, has objected to the film. The granddaughter of Gangubai claimed that no consent was sought by the filmmakers as they said that the movie is falsely trying to project her as a "prostituite."
Read: Who is Gangubai Kathiawadi, whose husband sold her at a brothel for Rs 500?
Bharti Sonawane, the granddaughter of Gangubai, is making attempts to stop the film's release hours ahead of the schedule. She told ETimes, "No consent was taken before making this film. And whatever image of Gangubai the makers have portrayed is completely wrong. Our lawyer is working towards stopping the film from being released. We are being denied justice and opportunity since 2020."
Targeting the director, Bharti further said, "I want to ask him to imagine any mother in the same perspective as he has used to portray my grandmother in the film Gangubai Kathiawadi. How is it justified? This is defamation and I won’t tolerate this. She was my grandmother. It wasn’t her mistake that she stayed in Kamathipura. Different types of people stay in Kamathipura. So, are all women from Kamathipura prostitutes? He has defamed our name. We are not able to show our faces to anyone. Our relatives and peers ask us, “Aisi thi kya aapki Nani?”
Apart from Alia, Gangubai Kathiawadi also stars Shantanu Maheshwari, Ajay Devgn, Vijay Raaz, Huma Qureshi and Seema Pahwa.
