Gangubai Kathiawadi - a garden of black roses

Gangubai Kathiawadi

2022, Hindi

Director - Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Stars - Alia Bhatt, Vijay Devgn, Indira Tiwari, Vijay Raaz, Seema Pahwa, Shantanu Maheshwari

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐⭐

Ms. Alia Bhatt has come of age. She gifts us with a screen presence that we would not have expected of her, playing the legendary mafia queen Gangubai as someone powerful yet deeply complex, driven by a code uniquely her own.

There is great poetic license taken here in portraying a cruel hearted Madam with such youthful femininity. But, Ms. Bhatt manages to pull it off well, bringing a moral demeanor to a world where morals don't matter.

Except when one is Rahim Lala. History and this film record the don to being the râkhi brother to Gangubai, supporting her both personally and professionally. And when he is played by Mr. Devgn, one can expect nothing less than perfection. 

But, perfection can weaken a story, especially when it is a biopic. While the story starts off showing the dark side of prostitution, by the second half the world's oldest profession starts being compared to careers in engineering or medicine. Added to this is the notion that Gangubai has made her ladies comfortable enough to not want to leave it. No reform programs, no moral struggle. Indeed, even the Central Government gives its support. 

Something feels queasy in my stomach when criminal's are turned into superheroes. Perhaps I could take it better had they just be seen as people.