Alia Bhatt and Salman Khan were supposed to headline Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Inshallah. However, due to reported creative differences between Salman and SLB, the much-awaited project got delayed. While Alia's frequent visits to Bhansali's Juhu office has fuelled rumours that the duo is reimagining Inshallah with another male actor, we now hear that two are in talks for another project on Gangubai Kothewali, tentatively titled Gangubai.
“Bhansali is not someone to break his promise. After his reported fallout with Salman Khan, he has started scripting his next film with Alia Bhatt on brothel owner Gangubai. The film will be an adaptation of a chapter from S Husain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens Of Mumbai,” the daily quoted a source close to the development as saying. Apparently, Gangubai was first offered to Priyanka Chopra but she could not take up the project as she has her hands full with the Mindy Kaling film and The White Tiger adaptation.
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Meanwhile, PeepingMoon.com had earlier reported that Sanjay's project on the same subject, Heera Mandi, which was conceived as a film, is reportedly going to be turned into a web series. And Priyanka was undoubtedly the first choice for it. Now with Priyanka's prior commitments, it would be interesting to see if PC's strong Hollywood game turns out to be in favour of her good friend Alia, who can land up the project with SLB.
For the unversed, Gangubai Kothewali was one of the most dreaded pimps of Kamathipura – the red light area of Mumbai. A madam who ran many brothels, Gangubai is regarded as an idol who fought for the rights of prostitutes and worked towards the protection of many such women who were forced into the sex trade.
(Source: Mid-Day/PeepingMoon)