Porni Banerjee | ৩০ এপ্রিল ২০২৪ ১৪ : ৫১Porni Banerjee

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s crime drama Gangubai Kathiawadi is one of the most acclaimed films of Bollywood in India. And now, making an impact overseas, the movie has spread its wings to reach in Los Angeles for its special screening.

Bhansali’s extraordinary way of portraying Gangubai – social media activist and prostitute from Mumbai’s Kamathipura - through the movie enthralled the audience in LA during its screening in the American city’s Aero Theatre that got transformed into a museum to showcase the filmmaker’s cinematic universe, especially highlighting Alia Bhatt starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi.

Much to their delight, the audience were also treated to a rare glimpse of Bhansali’s upcoming OTT debut series ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’ following the screening. Heeramandi is releasing on May 1 on Netflix.

Bhansali productions shared some pictures on its Instagram handle from the prestigious event and captioned it, “LA celebrates the magic of Sanjay Leela Bhansali @am_cinematheque organised a special retrospective of #GangubaiKathiawadi and a peek into #Heeramandi, captivating cinephiles across the globe! The highlight? An exclusive live chat with Sanjay Leela Bhansali hosted by @jazzt21 delving into his visionary storytelling #SanjayLeelaBhansali @aliaabhatt #HindiCinema #IndianCinema.”

While interacting with the audience at the venue, the ace filmmaker highlighted about his passion to portray strong female characters and said, “We come from a land where we worship the Goddess. I’ve seen incredibly strong women throughout my life. Women need to be heard, seen, and their stories need to be told. They are the creators of mankind. We are all born to women-kind.”

Bhansali, through his movies, has brought into prominence the significant role of strong female personalities such as Queen Padmavati, Mastani, Paro and Chandramukhi and recently Gangubai. His ‘Heeramandi’ is also female-centric that revolves around the houses of courtesans.

This much-anticipated upcoming web show features Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Richa Chadha in the lead roles. Whereas Fardeen Khan will be seen making a comeback in the series after 14 years.