After
four
years,
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
is
back
with
a
bang
with
his
latest
release
Gangubai
Kathiawadi
featuring
Alia
Bhatt
in
the
titular
role.
The
period
drama
based
on
one
of
the
chapters
from
Hussain
Zaidi-Jane
Borges'
popular
novel
'Mafia
Queens
Of
Mumbai'
tells
the
story
of
a
simple
girl
from
Kathiawadi
who
goes
on
to
become
one
of
the
most
powerful
brothel
madams
in
Kamathipura's
red
light
areas
in
Mumbai
in
the
60s.
Gangubai
Kathiawadi
started
its
box
office
journey
with
a
bang
on
Friday
as
it
surpassed
the
trade
analysts'
expectations
and
collected
an
impressive
opening
of
Rs
10.50
crore
nett.
According
to
reports,
the
film
opened
to
mixed
reviews
but
picked
up
business
in
the
evening
shows
with
positive
word
of
mouth.
The
opening
collection
of
Gangubai
Kathiawadi
is
higher
than
that
of
one
of
Alia's
earlier
solo
movies
Raazi
(Rs
7.53
crore).
After
Akshay
Kumar-Katrina
Kaif's
Sooryavanshi
and
Ranveer
Singh-starrer
83,
this
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
directorial
is
the
third
highest
grossing
Bollywood
film
in
pandemic
times.
Talking
about
its
performance
at
the
box
office
on
Saturday
(Day
2),
the
film
minted
Rs
13.32
crore.
The
total
two-day
box
office
collection
now
stands
at
Rs
23.82
crore.
Trade
analyst
Taran
Adarsh
tweeted,
"#GangubaiKathiawadi
witnesses
super
growth
on
Day
2...
Tier-2
cities
-
which
weren't
too
strong
on
Day
1
-
join
the
party
on
Day
2...
Strong
word
of
mouth
has
come
into
play,
hence
expect
bigger
numbers
on
Day
3...
Fri
10.50
cr,
Sat
13.32
cr.
Total:
₹
23.82
cr.
#India
biz."
Gangubai
Kathiawadi
is
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali's
first
collaboration
with
Alia
Bhatt.
The
director-actor
duo
was
previously
supposed
to
team
up
for
Inshallah
which
also
starred
superstar
Salman
Khan.
However,
that
project
got
shelved
due
to
unknown
reasons
and
Bhansali
offered
Gangubai
Kathiawadi
to
Alia.
Alia
had
earlier
opened
up
on
her
reaction
when
she
was
offered
this
film
and
said
in
an
interview
with
deadline.com,
"My
first
reaction
was
shock,
it
was
a
complete
genre
shift
-
this
was
a
hard-hitting,
almost
gangster-like
character
that
I
had
to
play.
My
second
reaction
was
acceptance
that
he
wanted
me
to
play
the
part.
In
that
particular
moment
I
was
doubtful
I
would
be
able
to
pull
it
off,
it's
extremely
intense
and
away
from
the
person
I
am
and
the
life
I've
seen,
from
anything
I've
experienced.
But
he
had
that
vision
so
clearly,
I
had
to
go
with
that
experience,
who
was
I
to
question
it?"