EXCLUSIVE: Sanjay Gupta says SLB and Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi reminded him of Amitabh Bachchan’s films from the 70s
Gangubai Kathiawadi was a cinematic masterpiece from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s illustrious filmography. The film showcased his unparalleled dedication and talent with its powerful performances, lavish set designs, and meticulous direction that took many of us in old eras. Alia Bhatt played the titular role of Gangubai Kathiawadi whose character was loosely based on Gangubai Kothewali, a real-life brothel owner and matriarch. Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta recently claimed that Gangubai Kathiawadi reminded him of Amitabh Bachchan movies from the 1970s era.
During a new exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, filmmaker Sanjay Gupta praised Alia Bhatt‘s Gangubai Kathiawadi over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s direction skills. Sanjay shared that the 2022 film took him to Amitabh Bachchan’s 1970s era.
“When I saw Gangubai I was like wow. I felt I am watching an Amitabh Bachchan film from the 70s. With her dialogues and the way, the scenes were constructed,” the Kaante director said.
Sanjay backed his statement with a scene where Alia’s character Gangubai sits in the car with her beloved, Afsaan. The filmmaker acknowledged the way Alia sat there and performed the sequence. The director remarked that some directors have stopped working hard as he added that they are “paying a price” for it.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
Talking about the fate of films at the box office, Sanjay Gupta emphasized that the movies won’t be able to earn money if the directors don’t give their 100 per cent effort to their projects. Sanjay continued that he watched his directorial debut film, Aatish: Feel The Fire (1994), with his kids, who are now discovering his movies. Recalling his thoughts, the Jazbaa director shared that he put all his efforts into every sequence of the 1994 movie.
He cited an example of late filmmaker-actor Feroz Khan helming Qurbani in 1980 and praised directors like Mani Ratnam, Mukul Anand, JP Dutta, and Ram Gopal Varma for their efforts to make films.
Sanjay Gupta was promoting his upcoming production, Visfot, along with Fardeen Khan, who plays one of the leads in the movie. Directed by Kookie Gulati, Visfot also stars Riteish Deshmukh in the lead role. It will be released today on September 6, 2024.
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