The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed two petitions filed against Gangubai Kathiawadi, seeking a stay on the release of the film alleging that it portrays the Kamathipura area and the Kathiawadi community in a bad light. The Alia Bhatt-starrer is set to have a theatrical release on Friday.
While one of the PILs was filed by Congress MLA Amin Patel, the second one has been filed by Shraddha Surve, a resident of Kamathipura for 10 years. The Bombay HC, after the dismissal of the petitions, stated that the film will release “without any hindrance” on Friday.
Moreover, both the petitions had stated that the film allegedly showed the entire area of Kamathipura as a “red light area” although commercial sex workers live in and work from only a small part of the locality. Surve’s petition stated, “The petitioner has also gone through the trailer of the said film and found that the name ‘Kamathipura’, which describes the red-light area of the city of Mumbai, has its reputation being lowered and/or is defamatory to the people living in the area, where the petitioner has also been living in, for many years.”
While Patil’s petition stated that he had received various letters/representations from people, who objected to the portrayal of Kamathipura and the community, also stated that the trailer did not have a disclaimer. The petition further claimed that Patil had tried to reach out to the concerned authorities but he did not receive any response from them.
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Gangubai Kathiawadi, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is loosely based on a chapter from Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges’ book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, a collection of stories about women who were part of Mumbai’s underworld. Bhatt plays Gangubai Kathiawadi, who was one of the most influential women in Kamathipura and the owner of many brothels in that area.
Following the release of the film’s teaser in February 2021, Babuji Shah, claiming to be Gangubai’s adopted son, had approached the Metropolitan Magistrate Court. He opposed her portrayal as a prostitute, brothel keeper, and mafia queen in the film as well as the book, with a specific objection to a scene featuring Gangubai smoking a beedi. However, in December last year, the court stayed proceedings, as Shah was unable to prove he was Gangubai’s adopted son.