Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: Strong Performances and Bhansali’s Huge Sets Makes This Film Must Watched
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Seema Pahwa, Jim Sarbh, Vijay Raaz, Shantanu Maheshwari
Where To Watch: Theatres
Filmyhype.com Rating: 3.5/5 (three and half star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming directorial venture ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi‘ has hit the theaters today. Since the trailer, there is a lot of discussion about Alia Bhatt’s role in the film. People believe that this is the most talked about film of Alia Bhatt’s career, after which she will be included in the serious actresses. The release of the film was postponed for a long time, due to Corona, it has now become possible to bring it among the audience. Apart from Alia, the film includes veteran actors like Ajay Devgan, Huma Qureshi, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raj. These strong stars have charged a hefty amount for the film. So let’s know which actor has charged how much fee for ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi‘.
Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: The Story
In the story of the film, the fate of Ganga of Kathiawar is decided by her own fate. It has been 25 years since Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed films. In the beginning of the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi‘, he has also put a photo of his pet besides Birju Maharaj and Lata Mangeshkar. His cinema has a field of its own. He has been showing only Maharashtra, Gujarat or the India adjacent to their borders in films. His last four films have become a template of his cinema and this is now becoming the weakness of his cinema. The climax of the story of ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ is her meeting with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to try to get legal status for the business of prostitution. The bright side of her personality is that she is successful in saving four thousand women of Kamathipura from homelessness and also wins in getting their children admitted in schools. This is Gangubai’s ‘Safed’ in this film walking on the path between black and white. And, in the climax, when Bhansali tries to present her as a goddess, the iodized salt of the film gets blown away.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is seen trying to glorify a woman called Mafia Queen in this film. She sells liquor illegally. Bribes the police. And, to make up for his actions, Bhansali shows him a brutal beating by a miscreant. It is this beating that leads Gangubai to Rahim Lala. About two and a half hours long film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ impresses in pieces. Whenever Ajay Devgan comes on screen, people expect something big to happen but his character is like a comet. Flashes just for a moment on the sky of the story and goes away. This part is its blessing. Huma Qureshi dancing to qawwali is its relief. The song ‘Meri Jaan’ composed inside the car with Shantanu Maheshwari is its nature. At first sight, Shantanu looked perfect in the role of the ladies tailor on Gangubai. Vijay Raj got something like this after a long time, in which he got a chance to show his different style of acting and he managed to leave his impact. A strong actor like Jim Sarbh did not get a chance to juggle much in the film. Yes, Seema Pahwa and Indira Tiwari showed their flair.
Gangubai Kathiawadi Review And Analysis
Alia Bhatt has given her everything as an artist in the film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi‘. This film can be seen only for his hard work. However, his gruff voice overshadows his performance in all the scenes. The scene of Gangubai’s speech at Azad Maidan also binds the audience in the pre-climax of the film, but Alia Bhatt should have got a chance to show her performance at at least two places in the film, but Bhansali does not give her this opportunity there. Every artist aspires to portray the role of an alcoholic in a powerful manner on screen. From Dilip Kumar to Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, it was the top number. But, when Alia Bhatt gets such a scene, Bhansali shows her back to the camera and fades out and moves on. Not only this, Nandini covers Gangubai’s face with the pallu of a sari when she leaves Sameer’s house to show separation pain in ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’. The climax of Alia Bhatt’s performance in the film is the scene in which she makes a trunk call to her mother after years and the call operator keeps on telling the time elapsed.
Talk about Alia Bhatt, who lives Gangu on screen, in real sense, she is the moon of acting here. Despite her slender physique, Alia has embodied the fearless attitude of mafia queen Gangubai with her expressions, physique, body language and has shown the critics that there could hardly have been a better choice for the character than her. Actors like Ajay Devgan, Vijay Raaz, Seema Pahwa, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jim Sarbh have also strengthened the film in their respective roles. Another strong aspect of the film is its dialogues. The pair of Prakash Kapadia and Utkarshini Vashisht have composed many soulful dialogues. Subrata Chakraborty, Amit Ray’s production design and Sudip Chatterjee’s cinematography go hand in hand in making the film beautiful. As editor, Bhansali could have reduced the length of the film a bit. At the same time, the songs of the film composed by him are definitely in accordance with their time and story, but after coming out of the theater, apart from ‘Dholida’… the rest of the songs are not remembered.
The biggest weakness of ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, which shows Bombay around the year of the release of ‘Chaudhvi Ka Chand’ and ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, is its attempt to be overly compelling. This is also a sign of the weakness of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s direction. His skills are waning. Every girl in the house is beautiful. Same decoration. It seems as though the entire film has been painted uniformly with a single brush stroke in post production. This will be Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first film as a director in which the art direction has not left an impact. Kamathipura looks fake from beginning to end. Repeatedly moving the same carriage in front of the specified camera angle also reduces the effect of the film. Cinematographer Sudip Chatterjee and Bhansali’s jugalbandi dates back to the time of ‘Guzaarish’ and this is the first time that the duo’s jugalbandi has failed to create magic.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s music has also not been as strong this time for which he has received a lot of praise from the film ‘Guzaarish’ to ‘Padmavat’. He is also the video editor of the film himself, so the blame for slowing down in the middle of the film is also on him. The story of Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges is rife with Bhansali’s script written by Utkriskar. Yes, Bhansali’s dialogues with Prakash Kapadia keep on catching the audience’s attention time and again. The film can get the advantage of being typical Gujarati and Mumbai style film in Maharashtra and Gujarat, but in North India, the film has to be tested from day one.
Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: Star Performances
Alia Bhatt has done a great job as Gangubai Kathiawadi, especially the pain on her face in the emotional scenes grabs your attention. Alia has worked hard for this role and she is visible on screen. Her voice and style have been given a heaviness in the social service part, which she has played well. But still it cannot be termed as Alia’s best performance. Shantanu Maheshwari is well suited for his character. Ajay Devgan impresses in the character of Rahim Lala, but he has only a few scenes. If seen, except Gangubai, all the other characters in the film suffer from weak writing. Vijay Raj makes a loud entry in the role of Raziabai, but there is nothing special for him in the story.
Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: Technical Aspects
Gangubai Kathiawadi looks decent on the technical side as well. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s films are known for their lavish sets, wide shots, smallest detailing. This film also attracts in production designing. Most of the film passes in Kamathipura itself, so the focus has also been on the streets and roads there. Cinematographer Sudip Chatterjee tries to establish Kamathipura like a character. He has been successful to some extent, but in this two and a half hour long film, many scenes are repeated. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has taken over the editing of the film, and here he disappoints.
Gangubai Kathiawadi Review: The Last Words
The story and characters of the film are as good as the songs of the film and the beauty with which the film has been presented is also very good to see, for which full credit goes to the producer of the film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who has given life inside this film. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has to be given a donation to show Kamathipura in such a great way. Gangubai Kathiawadi is a family film which does not have any ugly scenes but some of the lyrics of the film are such that it is better not to watch with small children, but it is a complete paisa vasool film which people will definitely like.
