#ReMedi — Film Review:

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Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) by Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Gangubai Kathiawadi is a movie that challenges its audiences to live in the shoes of a woman working in one of the most controversial forms of labor in India. The film is an adaptation of Hussain Zaidi’s non-fiction book titled, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai” which told the story of 13 women living in the ganglands of India. The film is particularly inspired by Ganga Harjivandas, an Indian woman who was sold to a brothel in Kamathipura, Mumbai by her lover who betrayed her. She later becomes known as Madam Gangubai who demands equality for those working in the same field as her. She fought for the rights of sex workers and marginalized women, turning her own pain into power.

The film has garnered much attention from many feminists as it raises an important discussion on sex work which has been highly contested globally. Gangubai’s character in the film leans towards the views and ideas of marxist feminism which recognizes sex work as a form of labor, exploited and victimised by patriarchical capitalism. The film draws out experiences from the feminization of poverty that had forced many individuals to enter the sex trade. In a culture where sex workers are still being dehumanized, Gangubai taught her girls to know their value and advocate for better working conditions, demanding rights to holidays, healthcare, education, and refusing clients.

Throughout the movie, Gangubai constantly reminds her colleagues to reclaim their dignity and self-respect, and to live without fear. Once a victim herself, she gradually learned the importance of solidarity from the sisterhood and how women must protect and stand with each other. Towards the end of the film, she becomes a highly respected and powerful political figure, winning elections and confronting authorities. Her final speech criticized people who deemed sex workers as immoral, pointing out the hypocrisy of their harsh judgements towards the same people who have never once judged their clients by their backgrounds or conditions. She demands people to start seeing them as humans who in fact, have been the backbones of their local economies.

The film’s depiction of Gangubai’s aspirations and the reality of sex work in developing countries is a great example of several ideas present in the works of Angela Davis, one of the most influential writers of intersectional feminism. She argues that although sex trade is a form of deep oppression rather than liberating labor, criminalization would only lead to further oppression on marginalized women. Hence, she advocates for the decriminalization of sex trade in order to reduce violence and victimization of women by the state.

In one of the scenes, Gangubai had ordered for the legs of her colleague who had passed away to be tied tightly, mentioning that “men should not be trusted, not even with a dead body”. This statement however, contradicts one of the later scenes in the movie where Gangubai declared in her public speech that sex workers are the reason why other women are not getting raped. The first statement adopts a more radical feminist perspective that sees how men are likely driven by their irrational entitlement to women’s bodies that cannot be satisfied by commerce. The latter expresses that if given the choice of legal prostitution, men will choose that instead of rape which is illegal. This view problematically assumes that rape is essentially the consequence of unfulfilled, physical need for sex and the lack of legal outlets. Nonetheless, the problem is never that simple. In fact, not only are sex workers highly vulnerable to sexual assault, it has also been proven that men who often use prostitution, are more likely to abuse their partners.

Overall, Gangubai Kathiawadi presents itself as a revolutionary film, especially in contemporary Indian cinema. The female-led narrative and tackling of social issues through reimagining traditional portrayals of sex workers has undoubtedly left a cultural impact. Its representation of marginalized lives sheds light on certain themes and topics that might be harder to bring about in mainstream media and tend to be overlooked.