The film is slated for release on February 25 (Photo: Alia Bhatt/Instagram, File) The Bombay High Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the February 25 release of the film Gangubai Kathiawadi by dismissing petitions seeking a stay on it. The Alia Bhatt starrer will be released without cuts on Friday.
Residents of Kamathipura had approached the court to get the reference to the area in south Mumbai removed from the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. A petition, filed by a woman resident on behalf of 55 others, said the film made “wild and derogatory” claims to portray the entire area as a “red-light hub”. “The social impact the movie will cause is that all girl residents will be termed prostitutes, be teased and taunted, and the families will have to live with lowered dignity,” the petition said.
A public-interest petition filed by Congress MLA Amin Patel wanted the film to be released only with a disclaimer that it doesn’t either want to show the Kathiawadi community to be related to Gangubai Kathiawadi or indicate “the entire area of Kamathipura is a red-light area”. It also sought a disclaimer to “show the reformation of Kamathipura residents”.
Patel’s petition mentioned objections raised from various quarters, including social service organisations and the protagonist’s daughter, against the portrayal of the neighbourhood and Gangubai as a prostitute and “mafia queen”.
Another plea for a stay, filed by social activist Hiten Mehta, claimed that the film’s trailer had a scene portraying racial discrimination against people from the Northeast.
Senior advocate Ravi Kadam, appearing for the film’s producers, opposed the claims and submitted that once the Central Board of Film Certification cleared a film, a “very high standard” of contentions were required to review the decision. Petitioners cannot just come to court at the last minute and “throw stones”, he argued.
Additional Solicitor-General Anil Singh, appearing for the board, said the petitions were not filed immediately after the film’s trailer had been released. Nor have they challenged the board’s guidelines, he added.
While a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik dismissed Patel’s and the Kamathipura residents’ petitions, it disposed of the plea by Mehta stating that the reasons would be recorded separately in the order.
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