Sanjay Leela Bhansali Gets Teary-Eyed As He Recalls Seeing Sex Workers Being Sold For Rs 20

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest directorial Gangubai Kathiawadi is winning hearts of audiences. One the one side, people cannot stop praising Alia Bhatt for her brilliant performance in the film as a sex-worker-turned-social-activist. On the other, audience is in awe of Bhansali's direction and way of storytelling.

Amid all the praise, in his recent tête-à-tête with Film Companion, Bhansali spoke about growing up in a chawl near a red-light area and seeing sex workers on his way to and fro school every day.

"You're sensitive to what you see as a child. How can a person's rate be Rs 20? These were the things that stayed in my mind. But I could not tell them completely. I was finding them through Chandramukhi... We are priceless for ourselves, we can't be tagged. We can't be sold for Rs 5 or Rs 20 or Rs 50. It is inhuman," said Bhansali.

He further said, "If you're sensitive to watching all this as you go to school everyday... But their faces had tremendous stories. They make themselves up. They put so much paint and powder, look at the grief. How do you camouflage that grief. You cannot. The greatest makeup artist cannot take it away. You cannot. These are moments, for me as a filmmaker, they mattered."

Coming back to Gangubai Kathiawadi, the film released in theatres on February 25, 2022. Apart from Alia Bhatt, the film also casts Ajay Devgn, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz and Seema Pahwa in key roles. The film has been well received for Alia Bhatt's performance.