Kamathipura resident disapproves use of area name in Alia Bhatt's ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’

Gangubai Kathiawadi, starring Alia Bhatt and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is facing two complaints against the use of Kamathipura’s name in the film.

According to India Today, Maharashtra MLA Amin Patel and Shraddha Surve of Kamathipura have appealed to the Bombay High Court that the area’s name be censored or deleted out of Gangubai Kathiawadi just days before its release.

The petition filed by Surve was presented to a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar on Tuesday, who said that it will be heard on Wednesday, ahead of the film’s release on Friday.

Surve’s petition objected to the film’s portrayal of Kamathipura in a ‘bad light’, saying it may ‘besmirch and defame’ the residents.

“If the movie is allowed to be released with the name Kamathipura, then it would cause harm and disrespect to the residents, especially women. Let the name be changed to anything else Mayapuri or Mayanagari,” the petition said.

Meanwhile, MLA Patel’s petition was presented to the division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik, who also scheduled the hearing for Wednesday.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is based on a chapter from S Hussain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens of Mumbai, and stars Alia Bhatt as the eponymous character, a powerful and respected madame from Kamathipura in the 1960s.