In just a year short of a decade in the industry, Alia Bhatt has proved her mettle as an actress taking on strong, impactful and diverse roles and delivering them to the T. She can play an intense character like Mary Jane in Udta Punjab with as much credibility as a fun-loving Shanaya in Student Of The Year and an undercover spy Sehmat in Raazi. I have been awed by her skill ever since I first saw her on screen in SOTY, and then again for the same film as I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop myself from going back to the theatre again. This year marks her 10th year in Bollywood, and there couldn’t have been a better project than Gangubai Kathiawadi to mark that feat and no better filmmaker than Sanjay Leela Bhansali to do it with. The trailer released today has me awestruck, but before I go on, let’s see the trailer.
Check out the trailer here:
Gangubai Kathiawadi tells the story of Ganga Harjivandas, a simple girl of Kathiawad who had no choice but to embrace her destiny and swing it in her favour by becoming a madame in the red light area of Kamathipura. The film also features Ajay Devgn, Vijay Raaz, Jim Sarbh, Seema Pahwa and Shantanu Maheshwari, and the trailer has just taken my breath away.
Alia’s Gangu demands your attention from the first frame. Her confidence, her sense of humour and her journey from being a young girl pushed into prostitution to becoming the queen of Kamathipura, is a visual spectacle made possible by Alia’s ability. The dialogues by Gangu pierced right through me , be it ‘Aapki izzat ek baar gayi to gayi, hum to roz raat ko izzat bechti hai, saali khatam hi nahi hoti’ or ‘Agar shakti, sampatti aur sadbuddhi, ye teeno hi auratein hain, to in mardon ko kis baat ka gurur’. Ajay’s appearance is impactful whereas Vijay’s Razia Bai just left me stunned. Bhansali’s grandeur and vision is a treat to watch as always, and the trailer just made me hungry for more.
I have literally seen Alia grow leaps and bounds in front of my eyes, and when I see her taking such big strides by donning a role like Gangu, it just fills me with pride. The actress has made it a habit not to disappoint me in any way every time she appears on screen, and going by the trailer, Gangubai Kathiawadi is just going to blow my mind away and I cannot wait to go to the theatres on February 25 and witness the magic happen in front of my eyes.