User Reviews

Seldom will you find, a performance so sublime, as you're taken on the journey, of Gangubai Kathiawadi, through a life she did not plan, having been sold by her man, into the streets of female labour, of the kind, most would not savour.

You can applaud as many western best female actors to your hearts content, but I've not seen any of them match the overwhelming and outstanding performance that Alia Bhatt gives us here, as she takes us on a journey through the brothels of Mumbai, of the pain and the punishment inflicted once you've been imprisoned in a world with no escape, and the incredible way that hope and belief can change the lives of everyone around you.

Absolutely outstanding!

Alia Bhatt has already shown us her immense range right from the coming-of-age drama "Highway (2014)" to the pioneering "Raazi (2018)" but perhaps no other role has shown us her full scale of talent as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's visually extravagant and poignantly hard-hitting "Gangubhai Kathiawadi", out now on Netflix. In clearly her career-best performance, Alia moves from innocent to despondent and finally charismatically enterprising with such ease that the audience is left in pure awe.

Based on the true story of Gangubhai Harjeevandas Kathiyawadi, a brothel madam of Mumbai's infamous Kamathipura red-light district in the 1960s, who takes up the welfare of her fellow prostitutes and the right to education of their children as her life mission. Inspired from anecdotes of her life as per the 2011 book "Mafia Queens of Mumbai" written by Hussain Zaidi, Bhansali adds his own typically vibrant embellishments to create an eye-catching world full of glamour, heartbreak, lust, thirst for power and ultimately, redemption.

We follow the journey of the eponymous Gangubhai right from her being sucked into a life of prostitution after having arrived in Mumbai as a young girl with dreams of becoming a heroine. Her arduous journey from there to rising up the ranks to become the most influential power broker in Mumbai becomes a story we can invest heavily in, thanks to Alia's powerful performance that is both fierce and empowering ass well as oddly poignant and gutwrenching. Her romance with "Ahfsaan" (played by an excellent Shantanu Maheshwari) is eerily captivating and accentuated by the excellent music by the director himself. Every song sequence in the film stands out with the soul-stirring musical renditions, backed up by the eclectic dance choreography of National Award-winner Kruti Ramesh, especially the powerful "Dholida".

Having had her impactful sequences mercilessly edited out from SS Rajamouli's "RRR", it is perhaps fitting that Alia Bhatt towers over her male co-stars in "Gangubhai", with both Vijay Raaz's "Raziabhai" and Jim Sarbh's "Hamid Fezi" coming across as half-baked, bit-part roles that are never fully fleshed out. Ajay Devgn recaptures the same fervour with which he had immortalized gangster characters inspired by real-life dons, first in "Company (2002)" where he played a role based on Dawood Ibrahim himself and then later in "Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010)" where his character was modelled on Haji Mastan. As "Rahim Lala" (based on Karim Lala) in Gangubhai, Devgn oozes gravitas and mass despite it being just an extended cameo, so much so that one wishes Bhansali will make a full-fledged spinoff film based on the character!

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's maximalist style of filmmaking often overshadows the acting efforts of its leads but this is one movie that breaks the norm with Alia Bhatt's staggering performance standing tall against the typically jaw-dropping Bhansali sets and elaborately choreographed musical sequences. An immense portrayal from the actress who draws unnecessary flak purely for being from a film dynasty, this is one of the top female performances of 2022, right up there with Shefali Shah and Vidya Balan in "Jalsa" and Sakshi Tanwar in "Mai". Highly recommended!

This is only the 2nd subtitled movie I've watched from India (1st one Badhaai Do) and I'm pleasantly surprised by the tough storyline of this movie and all the actor's emotional performances to help tell the story. To be honest, the inclusion of a little song and dance in such a harsh subject movie is a bit new to me but it was still a very good movie to see even subtitled. For those that have not seen any Indian movies, go see this one. It's well done. You may want to sit up a little closer to read the subtitles easier. I will be keeping my eye out for other movies from India.

This movie doesn't deserve 5 stars . It's a 10 on 10 . Alia Bhatt ,Vijay raz ,Ajay Devgn everyone just shines and Excel beautifully . I have always loved Alia's growth as an actor and she is one of the best we have . Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a maestro and he prooves it again. He beautifully paints the movie .I wish the people of this country grow up and get some brain and stop spreading unnecessary hate.

The journey of Gangubai Kathiawadi was definitely worth a trip to cinemas after two long years. Alia Bhatt delivers a powerful performance and her finest yet. This goes on to say a lot considering the quality of work she has done so far. Ajay Devgn has such a solid screen presence. Inspite of having limited time he steals every scene he is in. The film has Sanjay Leela Bhansali's stamp all over it. The powerful drama, cinematography, sets, costumes, dialogues all quintessential Bhansali.

The movie is well directed .. Alia Bhatt gave a magnificent performance .. a good film .. Ajay Devgan rocked his role .. the movie goes on at a nice pace and keeps us engaged .. please watch at the theatres for a great experience.

At first you wonder whether Alia can do this role. This isn't her comfort zone. But she definitely delivers. The cute, girl next door role is traded for a mesmerising controlling role of Gangubai and she owns it. Excellent visual appeal, as you expect from a Sanjay Leela Bansali movie. The music is outstanding throughout. Dholida makes you fall in love with solo garba, and Alia's performance in that song is jaw dropping. Worth waiting for. Her final speech where she sits and delivers to an audience is Amtiabh Bachchan-esque. Ajay Devgan is brilliant albeit a cameo role. Worth a watch to see how well Alia delivers the Mafia Queen role!

Gorgeous Bhansali sets, photography, soulful music and a career best performance by Alia Bhatt. Her voice, mannerisms and acting is spot on. Ajay devgan gives a powerful guest appearance.

Alia does it again, acting runs in her blood and she proves it everytime.

Powerful dialogues, great performance by her.

She is getting better with time.

Ajay was as he always is ,short and serious role.

Brutally honest, I don't like SL Bhansali movies.

But this movie is simply amazing and class acting. Watch and then review, don't write reviews without watching the movie.

There are times when you think the scene is a bit too big for Alia to pull off, but her growth as an actor shines through as she does a damn good job of carrying the movie through. Thoroughly enjoyable and brought us back to the cinema hall after two years. Well done SLB.

This is one of those Bollywood movies, where an anti-hero is glorified and his illegitimate actions justified.

Alia is such a misfit to play the role, story has nothing new to offer, we've seen such sex-worker stories before in Bollywood... just too mediocre and repetitive.

Gangubai kathiawadi is watchable because of alia bhatt's super performance and ajay devgn performance good life story based on real life incidents of gangubai.

Splendid work by Alia. We all know SLB's superb direction and beautiful set. Do not go by some butthurt people reviews. They are sitting here just to downgrade indian cinema. A must watch it is.

This was a good movie with top notch direction and acting by everyone especially Alia Bhatt who was really outstanding in her portrayal of Gangubhai.

However at 2hrs 32 mins the movie was extremely long and all of the songs were a complete hindrance and nuisance to the continuity of the film. Movies like these although quite good,have absolutely no repeat value whatsover. In other words after 5 or 10 years this motion picture is definitely not one you will ever want to watch again. Once is definitely enough!

7/10.

Sanjay leela sir Another Masterpiece Movie in Boliwood This Year Now Gangubai movie Story is Masterpiece Alia acting is Super This Movie Screen play this Movie is Super Ajay and Vijayraaj acting is Super Must loveing Movie gangubai i am Loveing this Movie in Theatre Gangubai movie is Masterpiece Movie watch now Gangubai Movie🙏🤘

I'm totally amazed to see Alia is carrying out this kind of role so graciously. She has such a sweet cute face but in this movie, she really didn't let her cuteness to win over this character. I don't know it's true story or not as there are much controversy going on about it. However, I loved overall the story. Her acting skill is on fire and I'm not her fan xD and this is the second movie of Alia that I just watched.

A terrible film with casting done while severely inebriated. The story and execution is tiresome, and uninspired. Very dull, indeed. Alia Guard's casting in the lead role is as inappropriate as it is laughable. She neither looks nor acts the part. All you see are her flared nostrils at their histrionic max.

Alia bhatt has nailed the character of Gangubai. One of the career best performance. Although the movie will look slow sometimes. But overall the movie is watchable and SLB has another Good movie in his Kitty.

Alia Bhatt is back with a bang after 2 years however I personally think the pace of the movie should have been a little faster and should have been crisper... A great performance by the entire cast especially by Alia Bhatt... Nice depiction of Gangubai's character and her efforts towards the prostitutes...

I wore my heart on sleeve and put my life in danger amid omicron surge to step in movie theater and got a piece of crap. Alia bhatt is a misfit don't go by paid reviews on YouTube they have taken a hefty money to put bhatt on cloud 9 The movie is just glorifying a pimp and whole movie seems like shot in inverter light, music is pretty bad, WTF was background score, dholida song dance when you see it in theatre is pretty bad seems like forced garba with no joy, just giving one star for Ajay devgan.

Alia did superb acting. Cinematography is good.

Was not expecting much from this movie as I didn't have any knowledge on Gangubai. But at the end it was worth it.

I watched it yesterday, didn't like the episodic nature of the screenplay and edit, but loved everything Bhansali, the sound, the grandeur, the colors, the grand camera movements, the dialogues. But most of all Alia Bhatt. She truly owned the movie, like you said.

When it comes to Hindi cinema, Alia Bhatt is so far ahead of all the other actresses in her era. As Gangubai she completely steals the show and delivers an emotional and realistic performance.

The movie in general is compelling with an interesting message about a taboo topic. As is usual with SLB movies, it is a visual treat.