Alia Bhatt graced the Red Carpet at Berlinale 2022 – ahead of the world premiere for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi.
The biographical crime drama screened as a Special Gala — the closing film of the festival programme.
The premiere was held at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin on 17 February and in attendance were the film’s lead actress, Alia Bhatt, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and producer, Dr. Jayantilal Gada of Pen Studios.
Gangubai Kathiawadi is a film based on the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges. The film celebrates the rise of a simple girl who had no choice but to embrace the ways of destiny and swing it in her favour.
Bhansali’s film was selected to be screened as part of Berlinale Special — a segment of the film festival dedicated to showcasing exemplary cinema from across the globe. This year’s selections are films that have been shot during the pandemic. As Bhansali completed the film against the backdrop of the pandemic in his milestone 25th anniversary year in cinema, his tenth film, Gangubai Kathiawadi, is especially significant.
Check out highlights from the film festival below:
Speaking about the film’s selection ahead of the Berlin Film Festival last week, Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director, Berlin International Film Festival said: “We are happy to premiere Gangubai Kathiawadi and continue the tradition of the Berlin Film Festival being a special setting for Indian movies.
“This time with a film that joins the usual craft in shaping camera movement and the choreography of bodies with a subject that is socially relevant, not only in India. From the very beginning we were taken by the story of Gangubai, an exceptional woman dragged into exceptional circumstances,” Chatrian added.
Gangubai Kathiawadi is set to release theatrically on 25 February, 2022.
