Not Alia Bhatt but Sanjay Leela Bhansali walked away with credit for Gangubai Kathiawadi: says Vidya Balan, calls it 'ridiculous'

There have been many instances wherein an actress has not shied away from calling out the unconscious patriarchy in the film industry. Recently in Film Companion’s roundtable conversation for actors, Vidya Balan voiced out the fact that the success of Gangubai Kathiawadi was mainly credited to director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when it was very much a woman-centric film headlined by Alia Bhatt . She further said how the movie has been referred to as a ‘Sanjay Leela Bhansali film.’

Talking about the same, Vidya Balan pointed out how so many women are spearheading female-driven films that are turning out to be a success instead of a male-lead movies contrary to what the usual perception is. However, she said that whenever such a woman-led film becomes a hit, credit is given to the director if he is a male. The Paa actress said, “We worked so hard as women to have a certain standing today, where we’re headlining films. More and more actresses are doing that. I love how post-pandemic, because the men’s films aren’t working, they suddenly turn around and say that the women’s films aren’t going to work all the more. How ridiculous? I really want to say, ‘What about Gangubai?’ It did more than most male-driven films.”

When Vidya points out the same, Varun Dhawan also points out how Tabu met a similar fate. The actress was very much a huge contributing factor to the success of films like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Drishyam 2 but mostly these films are credited to be a ‘Kartik Aaryan film’ or an ‘Ajay Devgn film.’ Many fans reacted to the same praising the Sherni actress for highlighting this sexist notion that still grapples the industry. Talking about Gangubai Kathiawadi, the film movie also starred Ajay Devgn in a cameo role and turned out to be one of the biggest hits of this year.