Gangubai Kathiawadi has been receiving rave reviews from all over – right from the Berlin Film Festival to the Indian critics! Not to mention, the box-office numbers of the film are absolutely roaring high. This film has created a niche of its own and the team of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Alia Bhatt is certainly brilliant. But I’m further thrilled now that Alia has interviewed her director and posted it on her Instagram. The Padmaavat director has spoken at length to Alia about his latest release, moments from the film, influences of his childhood which make him the film-maker that he is, amidst much more. He also calls Gangubai Kathiawadi his most personal work.
When Alia asked him about the moment when he finally breathed a sigh of relief after Gangubai released, here’s what the director said.
“That moment of realisation came in Berlin, because it made people stand up and clap for 5mins. The day when it released in India, I was somehow calm. This film mattered because it was saying a lot of things, this film mattered because it was the most personal film I had made in my life. This film mattered because it was celebrating a woman who normally doesn’t get celebrated in Hindi cinema.”
The film-maker further added that Alia’s performance in the film would be remembered for years to come.
He said,
“This this film matters to Indian cinema because here’s a performance which would be celebrated for the next 50 years. It could be at par with Nargis ji in Mother India and Seema Biswas in Bandit Queen and Meena Kumari in Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam. This is the fourth performance I will talk in the same league. Here was the girl taking the whole film on her shoulders. All these things should matter on a Friday.”
Clearly, the film-maker is all praise for his heroine and Alia certainly has hit the ball out of the park living up to Bhansali’s expectations. The director also opened up about his influences while growing up which reflects in his brand of cinema.
Bhansali shared,
“I’m born to angst, art, music, art. My mother was an artist, my father loved music and a lot of things my father taught me were about Indian cinema. Also, it has a lot to do with where my soul was born – in a house where there was a lot of problem, a lot to strive and yet there was music around always where I stayed. There were so many things I experienced as a child which have stayed with me. It prepared me as an artist over the years. You cannot be sensitive to a colour or a hair strand or a line or a beat of a guitar but to me, everything matters. I was a lonely child in the house, so in the classroom I would imagine things behind the teacher. I wanted to paint my walls magenta and blue when there was no colour to them. I always lived in this make-believe world.”
It’s certainly been heartwarming to see Bhansali open up at length about himself and Alia is such a brilliant interviewer, I must say!
You can check out the full interview below.