As an Indian-American, being from Mumbai I had no idea that a place called Kamatipura existed. Of course I knew about the prostitution problem among the villages in India however, it was all something I had read about, never seen. The opening scenes of this movie and the story line absolutely shocked me and left me with much to think about so it was something I decided to put on paper. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want spoilers, don't worry I'll warn you before I get to those!

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My first question to my mom was -- who was Gangubai and was she even real?  Well, those of you who are wondering the same thing, yes indeed she was real. Gangubai was 16, she came from Gujarat to Mumbai with who she thought was the love of her life, Ramnik. Desperate for money, Ramnik sold her off in Kamatipura just a few days after they reached Mumbai, something that would change her life forever. Forced into prostitution, Gangubai had to toughen up quickly and was determined to make her life and those around her lives better, somehow. As she rose to power, she was raped brutally by a member of gangster Karim Lala's gang members. Seeking justice, she reached out to him and was soon recognized as his sister, gaining control of all of Kamatipura with his support. Once Gangubai rose to power, she worked to improve the lives of prostitutes and their children. She kept no one forcefully to work in her brothel and sent the young girls to school to get an education. There is still a statue of her that exists in Kamitipura today!

When it comes to Bollywood, there are very few movies featuring specifically only a female lead. Alia Bhatt does a phenomenal job in this role, you really can see how much work went into crafting this deeply layered character. It was refreshing to see a movie surrounding a women leader that not many people knew about. One of the beginning scenes that really touched me was when Gangubai rescues a girl that does not want to be a prostitute and sends her back to her village.

There should be a trigger warning though that comes with this film because it is quite graphic when it comes to the abuse that girls go through when they are sex trafficked.

Okay I may throw in some spoilers now but here are my overall thoughts:

I do want to point out that though the film was focused on Alia Bhatt as a feminist leader, her rise to power wasn't validated until she had the support of Karim Lala -- not sure how to feel about this.

The scene in the beginning where they pierce a girls nose forcefully, really stuck with me and shook me to my core, although I knew this kind of thing existed, seeing it really stuck with me.

Alia Bhatt's acting was spot on, and all the supporting cast as well. Not once did I feel that the movie was dragging on, it was captivating throughout, though there did feel like there were some loose ends. The ending I felt like was not as powerful as it could have been, or maybe was underwhelming compared to the entire film.

The music was a bit underwhelming as well, compared to all the other Sanjay Leela Bhansali films.

If you haven't seen this film yet, I highly recommend watching! Here's the trailer below, let me know if you see it.

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