How big will Gangubai Kathiawadi be at the box office, here's what trade experts have to say

The eagerly awaited film of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s _Gangubai Kathiawadi_ demonstrates the director’s unbridled epic vision to ample advantage. This time the setting is the infamous badnaamon ki basti (the slum of the infernals) Kamathipura. The performances, not only Alia Bhatt’s but also Ajay Devgan’s and Vijay Raaz’s are powered by high-definition rhetoric. To understand if the film will work on the box office, we got in touch with the leading trade analysts. Here’s what they have to say:

Taran Adarsh  (trade analyst, movie critic): “I am very, very optimistic when it comes to Gangubai Kathiawadi. The main reason: it’s an SLB film. An SLB film is special, in my opinion, he is the best storyteller in India along with SS Rajamouli. The art of combining story and breathtaking visuals is a rarity and SLB scores brownie points for it. Also, the subject he chooses in film after film is genuinely out of the box. Gangubai Kathiawadi is one story I am extremely keen to watch on celluloid. Also, he has cast Alia Bhatt in a role of a lifetime and I am sure, her performance will stand out in her repertoire. I am very confident, SLB will bring back the audience in large numbers. He has always done it in the past. Will happen again. The success of Sooryavanshi, Pushpa, and Spiderman have proved, yet again, that moviegoers want wholesome entertainment. Gangubai Kathiawadi should emerge as a success story too. Fingers crossed.”

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Akshay Rathi  (movie exhibitor): “I think the biggest USP of Gangubai Kathiawadi is the man who has made the film, Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and his brilliant cinematic vision. This is the man who thinks ‘epic’ in every sense: we have seen that in pretty much all his films. When you go back to his    Hum…Dil De Chuke Sanam,  Devdas, and his more recent film like    Bajirao Mastani  and  Padmavat  are talking about a cinema that is crafted for movie theatres. Who is better equipped to bring back the audience into theatres with Gangubai Kathiawadi? Mr. Bhansali sleeps, dreams, breathes epic cinema.”

Atul Mohan(trade analyst): “Alia Bhatt is among one of the most bankable female stars today and Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the finest storytellers we have. The way Bhansali presents his heroines, nobody else does. This combination of Alia and SLB looks very lethal and we have Ajay Devgn also in the film. Combine all these brands and it looks like a perfect film to bring back the audience to the cinemas. We need one big film every month to work for the trade. We saw that in  Sooryavanshi, Spiderman, and  Pushpa  last year after business resumed and  Gangubai  has to retain that flow of success at the BO. The rest depends on the audience’s verdict.”

Girish Johar  (trade analyst, producer): “Gangubai Kathiawadi is a big film coming from the stalwarts’ team of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ajay Devgn, and powerhouse performer, Alia Bhatt. It’s one of the prestigious films of the year and has generated tremendous expectations. The respective fans of SLB, Devgan, and Alia are eagerly awaiting and cinema lovers are also keen to watch this spectacle on the big screen. The film has been mounted on a big scale and is expected to have a good start at the box office. The film is sure to bring relief to the exhibition fraternity and has the power to bring audiences back to the cinemas. Promotions of the film have to start, which will surely add to the excitement and will be the talk of the town, in times to come. Hope that the film is received well at the BO and it provides the much-needed impetus to the film industry.”

Roshan Singh  (film exhibitor Bihar): “I am a hundred percent confident that    Gangubai Kathiawadi  would the biggest hit of the past two years, bigger than Pushpa. I remember Mr. Bhansali’s  Hum… Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, and  Black  were all released in my theatre. They were all huge hits, specially Devdas which ran for 25 weeks in my theatre. People just kept coming back over and over again to see it, to hear the dialogues to watch the songs. I am confident history will repeat itself with  Gangubai Kaithiawadi.”

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.