Alia Bhatt wraps up filming Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi: 'Gigantic life-changing experience'

Actor Alia Bhatt on Sunday finished shooting for her upcoming movie Gangubai Kathiawadi and described filming the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial as a “gigantic life-changing experience”. The film features Bhatt as Gangubai, one of the most powerful, loved and respected madams from Kamathipura, Mumbai’s red-light area, during the 1960s. The 28-year-old actor took to Instagram and posted pictures from the film’s set, along with Bhansali and the crew. Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhatt said, has been through a journey of extreme highs and lows, from two cyclones (Nisarga in 2020 and Tauktae, last month) to coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Both Bhatt and Bhansali had also contracted COVID-19 during the shoot. “We started shooting ‘Gangubai on the 8th of December 2019 and we wrapped the film now two years later! This film and set has been through two lockdowns, two cyclones, director and actor getting COVID during the making! The troubles the set has faced is another film all together,” the actor wrote. Bhatt said, despite the hurdles the entire crew faced to mount the film, Gangubai Kathiawadi was a dream come true for her. The film marks the first collaboration between Bhatt and Bhansali, best known for lavish costume dramas like Padmaavat and Bajirao Mastani. “What I take away is the gigantic life-changing experience! Being directed by sir has been a dream all my life, but I don’t think anything would have prepared me for the journey I was on for these two years…”

Bhatt said she walks out of the set a different person today. “I love you, sir! Thank you for being you… There is truly no one like you,” the Gully Boy star wrote. The film has been adapted from one of the chapters of noted author Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Bhatt said she will miss playing Gangubai and thanked her dear ones for their constant support during the making of the film. “When a film ends a part of you ends with it! Today I’ve lost a part of me… Gangu I love you! You will be missed,” she wrote. Earlier this year, the makers had announced that the film will open theatrically on 30 July. There is no clarity on the film’s new release date as yet. Bhansali is co-producing Gangubai Kathiawadi with producer Jayantilal Gada’s Pen India Limited.