A 14-year-old girl is tricked into prostitution in Mumbai in the late 1950s. Despite being imprisoned, chained and subjected to torture, she keeps resisting and refuses to sell her body, causing trouble and headaches for the brothel pimps. The matter soon reaches the ears of Gangubai (Alia Bhatt), the mafia queen of Mumbai, who helps solve the problem. Reflecting on her own painful memories soon after meeting the young girl, Gangubai realises her purpose in life and decides to write her own destiny -- to fight and protect 4,000 other women trapped in the world's oldest profession.
The Hindi language drama Gangubai Kathiawadi is loosely based on the real-life Gangubai Kothewali, a former sex worker who later became a social leader and activist. Her life was documented in the book Mafia Queens Of Mumbai written by S. Hussain Zaidi. The film is a tribute to her difficult life and how she was able to become a protector of so many women. Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali uses rebellious, feisty feminism, heartbreak and courage to tell a dramatic story rich in emotion and gorgeous cinematography. It's no wonder this movie has become so popular that everyone is talking about it lately. In Thailand, the film even reached number one on the Netflix chart last week. Gangubai Kathiawadi is not a biopic as many people assume. The fictionalised version gave the filmmaker more room for some melodrama and several large-scale dance sequences which appeal to all types of audiences.
