Music, Edit and Direction by: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Alia Bhatt
Streaming on Netflix.
This film is a very enriching experience, it made me feel a wide range of emotions at the same time. I felt good about how it's a rags to riches story, which is always inspiring. But it's a tragedy about the world it's set in, the way women are forced into it. In the beginning, I was of the view that even though it feels good that Gangubai is fighting for the rights of their people, it felt bad when you think about how it's an inherently messed up place to be at, no matter how better their lives can get. But slowly as the film goes on, we start seeing the 'inherent mess' in a different way. The darkness of the world gets to a place where we start empathizing and start accepting the world for what it is. The film doesn't take this debate of legalizing prostitution from the beginning, then it would've been a propaganda film. But this film is way richer than something like that. It operates in the space of an epic. It starts from the origins of the character, her being forced into a world, and then slowly accepting the world and then becoming a revolutionary force in it. I loved how the film slowly builds to this.
I absolutely loved the subplot of the love interest, Afsaan. He's an innocent guy who wants to get married to Gangu, and Gangu likes him too but she knows that it won't work. And what she does later with his love for him so is bittersweet. She knows he's a nice guy, she loves him too, but she does what she has to. I like how the rags to riches happen too - she goes through a lot of shit, she earns the trust of her people and then the boss dies. Then competing against a rival - Razia (whose casting choice I absolutely loved). Classic gangster film tropes. I enjoyed Alia Bhatt's performance so much - because for me the look didn't work fully, because even after the styling, Alia doesn't look the part. But she killed it with the performance that I forgot that the look didn't work for me. And of course, the world is a rich Bhansali world - with the camera moves, the set design, and everything that he crafts and sculpts. At this point, I feel like I want a Bhansali version of all stories out there.
No comments:
Post a Comment