Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi starring Alia Bhatt scores magnificent triumph at FilmFare, IIFA 2023

Sanjay Leela Bhansali arrived with Gangubai Kathiawadi at the box office in 2022 against all the odds. Be it experiencing 50% occupancy in the cinema halls to having faced a protest the film emerged as a blockbuster of the year. Being led by a female lead, the film collected around 9 Cr. on the very first day in the post-pandemic era and crossed 100 Cr. in around 2 weeks of its release. Gangubai Kathiawadi is not only a film that did wonders at the box office against all odds but also conquered the space of film festivals. After premiering at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival last year, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ went on to become the first bonafide Hindi-language blockbuster in 2022.

Starting the winning spree with the 68th Filmfare awards, Gangubai Kathiawadi booked the highest number of nominations in 16 categories and took home 10 awards that include, Best Film (Gangubai Kathiawadi), Best Director (Sanjay Leela Bhansali), Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female), (Alia Bhatt), Best Dialogue, (Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha), Best Background Score, (Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara), Best Choreography, (Kruti Mahesh (Dholida- Gangubai Kathiawadi), Best Cinematography, (Sudeep Chatterjee), Best Costume Design, (Sheetal Iqbal Sharma), Best Production Design, (Subrata Chakraborty And Amit Ray) and the Special RD Burman Award for Upcoming Music Talent, Janhvi Shrimankar (Dholida- Gangubai Kathiawadi),

Ahead of it, at the 23rd IIFA awards, the film booked a phenomenal triumph by winning 5 awards. At IIFA awards, Gangubai Kathiawadi won awards for Best Actor in Leading Role (Female) - Alia Bhatt, Best Debut (Male) - Shantanu Maheshwari, Best Screenplay, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Utkarshini Vashishtha, Best Dialogue – Utkarshini Vashishtha and Prakash Kapadia and Best Cinematography - Sudeep Chatterjee.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi paved its journey through a lot of hurdles but successfully emerged as a national and global blockbuster. The film also ruled the box office windows with its massive collection of ₹153.69 Cr. at the domestic box office and ₹209.77 Cr. globally.