Exclusive: Gangubai Kathiawadi's family claims harm to her true legacy in Bhansali's upcoming film

Taking a personally charged strong jibe at Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Vikas said, "Bhansali uses his mother's name in his name - Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Does he have no regards for others' mothers then?"

Mumbai: Though creative liberty is crucial to retain the artistic aspect of biographical films, it is also the very element that often pushes the movie into a controversy. Ahead of the much awaited release of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Gangubai Kathiawadi, the family of real life Gangubai has claimed it to be a defamation of her original character.

An exclusive talk with Gangubai's daughter Babita Gowda and grandson Vikas Gowda has revealed that the family is in fact hugely disappointed in how wrongly their ancestor with a rather appreciable character has been slain down as a mere sex worker with a hollow though aesthetically sassy attitude, only for the sake of adding spice to the movie, while consequently harming her true legacy.

The movie is simply untrue and dangerous for our dignity

Gangubai's grandson Vikas Gowda, notably worried about the impact the movie may have on his own social dignity and that of his upcoming generations, claimed that Bhansali is acting like a total businessman with no regards to the repercussions of the creative liberty he has taken in his film. "Our dignity is at stake. How are we going to face people after being portrayed like this? The movie has so many things that do not hold true even remotely. My grandmother never used cuss words, did not eat paan, she did not have an Impala car, neither was she a violent woman who harmed or killed people," he said.

"The only thing they have rightly depicted is that Karim Lala was like her brother and supported her in all her fights that she so bravely fought. But I would also clarify that she had not gone to him because she was abused - she had gone to him as a representative of other women sex workers who were facing issues, and he had offered to support them," Vikas added. He also clarified that Gangubai rightly channeled that support into helping the needy and the orphans, getting them educated and married - "but none of this has been shown. They have shown only the things that would help them gain fame and more audience for their movie," he added.

Bhansali has no regards for others' mothers

Taking a personally charged strong jibe at Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Vikas said, "Bhansali uses his mother's name in his name - Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Does he have no regards for others' mothers then?" Until 2011, everyone knew the real life protagonist of Bhansali's movie as Gangu Ma. After the release of Hussain Zaidi's book - Mafia Queens of Mumbai: Stories of Women from the Ganglands - in 2011, she came to be known as Gangubai Kothewali, Vikas said. "And now the name may further get deteriorated to Mafia Queen after the movie is released. The prestige she worked so hard for is just degrading for the sake of others' fame," he said.

The things that Vikas thinks deserve a mention in his grandmother's story - like how the famous Kamathipura's nomenclature progressed from 1922 to 1960 and then further because of his grandmother - have been completely skipped. He also denied the portrayal of Gangubai being sold by her husband to the brothel for Rs 500 in the movie.

Nehru and Gangubai were related, but professionally

After the film was announced, rumours on social media about the relationship between the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Gangubai had flared up. Denying the rumours, Vikas said, "Prime Minister Nehru's Office had received many complaints about the prostitution business in Kamathipura back then. He had taken these complaints seriously, and was of the view that the sex workers should be rehabilitated and relocated. His office had contacted my grandmother to call her to his office in Delhi. Their meeting was on an entirely professional basis. The Congress had supported her back then, and is supporting us even today," he said.

My mother was a kind-hearted, simple woman

Remembering her mother, Gangubai's daughter Babita Gowda said that her mother was a simple woman who helped others. "She wore a simple white saree, but was fond of jewelry. She was always laden with gold ornaments," Babita said. "They had come here for the interview some 4 years back. They also took the book and did other formalities. I had told them everything about how she was a fierce woman who always supported people in need. But in the movie, they are calling her things like underworld don, Mafia queen and what not. We are highly disappointed by this," she added.

We can't fight Bhansali even if we want to

Though enraged at the damage the movie will most definitely cause to his family name, Vikas is unsure if he will be able to put up a fight against a man as big as Bhansali. "We are small, poor people. We can't put up a fight against him, he is a powerful man. What can we do? My grandmother fought all her life for everyone's justice. Ironically, we are deprived of that justice today," he added. The family does plan on getting its concerns acknowledged by Bhansali, though they are skeptical about how effective that could be.