Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt is elated as her performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi got recognised as one of the ‘best performances of the year’ by an international publication. She shared the news on social media and reacted to it.
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The Guardian released a list of the best and worst big screen performances of all time, compiled by its writers. Alia was listed among legends such as Tom Hanks, Cameron Diaz, Lupita Nyong’o and Jennifer Lawrence. In the film, she played a brothel madam who fights for reforms for sex workers.
In the article, writer Mike McCahill wrote about Alia, “As the real-life figure of Ganga Harjivandas, the self-improving sex slave who became queen of Mumbai’s 1960s red-light district, Bhatt makes complete emotional sense of a rollercoaster character arc. Her extraordinarily expressive dancing in drum number Dholida tells its own story: veering from communal celebration to personal desolation, it’s a walloping three-minute tabulation of everything this woman has gained and lost.”
Reacting to the appreciation, Alia re-posted the article on her social media accounts with grinning emojis.
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Gangubai Kathiawadi is based on a chapter in Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai. It showcases the journey of Gangubai, who was forced into prostitution at an early age. She rises up the ranks and goes on to become a fierce madam of the brothel and a political leader. The film also stars Ajay Devgn, Vijay Raaz, Seema Pahwa and Indira Tiwari in pivotal roles.
Alia Bhatt in Gangubai Kathiawadi.
The film was a hit when it was released in theaters earlier this year. It made over Rs 200 crore worldwide. The film also found a spot on Netflix top 10 list for six weeks in a row with 50.6 million viewership hours, ranking among the most-watched Indian films on the service.
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The Indian Express’ film critic Shubhra Gupta gave it three stars and called it a spectacle made real by Alia Bhatt’s performance. “What raises it above your standard Bhansali spectacle is Bhatt’s willingness to go the mile: beneath the cuss-words, the drunken binges and the speechifying-on-podiums, some of which come off as ‘acting’, Alia Bhatt makes her Gangubai real. We are made to feel the pain of the women whose lives are so circumscribed and who feel so abandoned by their loved ones that they can find camaraderie, rough and tumble it may be, only amongst themselves,” read a section of her review.
Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt is having a good year, first with the success of Gangubai Kathiawadi and later with RRR and Darlings’ humongous success. Her latest release Brahmastra also did good business. The actor will soon be making her Hollywood debut with Heart of Stone.
