Sanjay Leela Bhansali Gets Lavish Gangubai Kathiawadi Sets Demolished As Shoot Unlikely To Begin Soon?

Gangubai Kathiawadi starring Alia Bhatt is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next big project after his blockbuster hit Padmaavat. The project was already in pre-production before the lockdown with Alia Bhatt's striking first look from the film already released at the beginning of the year.

Like any big Bhansali production, this one too has a lot of eyes on it. The sets were also constructed and the look of the film was almost complete. The film had to simulate the look and feel of the ‘60s era and that it had achieved with lavish sets that were previously reported to be grander than even Padmaavat.

The lockdown, unfortunately, like many other Bollywood films has taken a toll on this one too. Not only was the schedule of Gangubai Kathiawadi delayed but it looks like the sets can't be kept too as no one can say when the situations with allow shoots to resume in the future, especially given that Mumbai is one of the worst-hit cities in the country.

The director of the film Sanjay Leela Bhansali thought that the shoot for the film could be resumed but the film has already incurred losses because for five weeks the set is deserted and there is nothing happening adding to the fire is the daily wage workers problem that occurred and no commission is being paid to them as well.

A Mid Day report states that as the set is not being used for any shoot of any kind, Bhansali has asked his production team to get it demolished.

The report quoted a source as saying, "In March, Bhansali had cleared the payment for the set maintenance. Even when the shutdown was announced, the team had assumed it would delay the schedule only by a month or so. However, with the situation in Mumbai looking grim, it is unlikely that the shoots will resume soon. After a round of number-crunching, it was seen that recreating the set would probably be a cheaper alternative than keeping it standing in these uncertain circumstances, as the latter entails the daily rent that has to be paid to Film City. So, the team has decided to have the set razed to the ground." When the source was asked whether the director is thinking about shooting in real locations, reportedly he said that the final call will be taken only after the lockdown.

Alia Bhatt was all excited about her role in the film as the keeper of the brothel who rose to even more notoriety because of her dalliance with big mafia goons.

The film Gangubai Kathiawadi is based on the life of one of the then Bombay’s brothel keeper who life has been written about in Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens Of Mumbai.