Sanjay Leela Bhansali: Alia Bhatt's Last Shot from Dholida is By Far the Best I've Seen an Actor Do

Alia Bhatt and Sanjay Leela Bhansali have collaborated for the first time for Gangubai Kathiawadi. The period drama, which is scheduled to release on February 25, presents the story of Gangubai, one of the most powerful, loved and respected madams of Mumbai’s red-light area Kamathipura during the 1960s. Bhatt and Bhansali were proud to present their film, Gangubai Kathiawadi at the Berlin International Film Festival on Wednesday.

Talking to the media after the screening, Sanjay revealed how Alia became one with her titular character. “From the time I started shooting, I never gave any instructions to Alia. I never told her to do it in a certain way. The character just came naturally to her. So it was a great working relationship where we weren’t down each other’s throats by giving specific instructions. I gave her the freedom to think for herself. Alia was let on her own to be and find the real Gangubai and she breathed a beautiful life into the character,” he said.

He further added, “It’s a directors delight to see the girl who comes out of the car at the studio is not Alia and it Gangu. She walked like Gangu on the sets. She is the most gorgeous girl I have ever met. A beautiful girl, a beautiful actor and even beautiful human being.”

An adaptation of Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, the film also features Ajay Devgn, Vijay Raaz and Seema Pahwa in prominent roles.

Praising the actor for her dancing skills, especially in the recently released song Dholida, the filmmaker said that Bhatt would capture the beats without showing it. “I wasn’t aware that Alia was such a good dancer, but when she danced on Dholida, I thought, here was an actor who finally transcended. And it’s a very gooseflesh moment for me to even talk and think about it that you transcend where you are and forget who is in front of you or the camera. She became one with the character and expressed all the angst and the anguish that the character goes through in that one song.”

Bhansali adds that he would take the song to his grave, “If there is any shot that I would want to play when I breathe my last, it is Alia doing that last shot (from Dholida) because it is by far the best thing that I have seen an actor do in a very long time.”

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