Within 9 years of her career, Alia Bhatt has come a long way. She is in Berlin at the moment, enjoying every bit of the attention she is getting there for Gangubai Kathiawadi. This is the third time for Alia in at the Berlin Film Festival. She was in Berlin with Imtiaz Ali’s Highway at the beginning of her career in 2014. Then again in 2018 with Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy, Alia was in Berlin having the time of her life. She is in the fun mode in Berlin, ready to field questions on her hard-hitting but ebullient film about the rise of a sex worker to the position of power and dominance.
Informs a source, “Alia is going to be the voice of the film in Berlin while Sanjay Bhansali has decided to take a backseat. She has done her homework and research on the rigorous Q&A sessions that will follow the two press screenings of Gangubai Kathiawadi on Tuesday and Wednesday. She is likely to be grilled about the lives of sex workers and she is ready for it.”
Besides Alia, for filmmaker and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it is a hark-back to the glorious day when Aishwarya Rai and he were at the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of Devdas in 2002. The epic director is now at the Berlin Film Festival with his new film Gangubai Kathiawadi and his heroine Alia Bhatt. Bhansali is hopeful that the pandemic would now subside and allow the movie business to get back to normal. “We are very hopeful. The losses faced by this industry, and why only this industry, but humanity at large, is immeasurable. We need to get back on our feet. I am hoping that my film will contribute to the revival of the movie business. Gangubai Kathiawadi is designed for the big screen.”
Further talking about the prized trip to Berlin Sanjay says, “The Berlin Film Festival is very prestigious. That our Gangubai is invited to Berlin is a matter of great joy and pride for us.”
The film will be shown in the prestigious Berlinale Special Galas section today February 16. It will then be released worldwide on February 25.