Maharashtra Congress MLA Amin Patel on Monday demanded that the title of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film Gangubai Kathiawadi be changed. The MLA claimed that the title of the film maligns the name of Kathiawad city. The film features Alia Bhatt as Gangubai, one of the most powerful, loved and respected madams from Kamathipura, Mumbai’s red-light area, during the 1960s.
Speaking in the state Assembly, Patel, who represents the Mumbadevi constituency in south Mumbai, said the Kamathipura area has undergone changes. “It is not the same like it was in 1950s. Women there are excelling in different professions. The film’s title also maligns the name of Kathiawad city. The name of the film should be changed,” said the MLA, whose party is an ally of the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government.
Amin urged the state government to intervene in the matter.
In Gangubai Kathiawadi, Ajay Devgn will play the role of Karim Lala, who was the godfather of Bombay’s Pathans, one of the three legendary mafia dons including Haji Mastan and Varadarajan Mudaliar who ruled the city between the 1960s and 1970s. The film is Bhansali's 10th directorial and is set to release on July 30.