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Vidya Balan has questioned why only director Sanjay Leela Bhansali walked away with all the credit for Gangubai Kathiawadi’s success, and suggested that mysogyny is the reason why Alia Bhatt wasn’t praised in the manner that most male actors would be after delivering a hit film. The period drama was released earlier this year to critical acclaim and box office success.
In an appearance on a roundtable interview conducted by Film Companion, Vidya asked, “How come Gangubai did well? If a woman’s film does well, it’s the director’s credit, and this is ridiculous.”
She continued, “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.”
This is not the first time that Vidya has spoken about the shift in the industry’s perception of female-led films. She said in an earlier interview with Film Companion, “The pandemic has become an easy excuse for people to say that now female-led films will not work in the theatres, because basically, our industry is going through some kind of flux where a lot of our films are bombing, terribly. And they are your so-called, male hero-led films. But who takes the beating is the female-led films.”
Gangubai started what has arguably been the most successful year in Alia’s career. She followed it up with a supporting role in the smash hit RRR, and then starred in Darlings, and Brahmastra. She also shot her debut Hollywood film, Heart of Stone, and gave birth to her first child.
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