Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has dismissed petitions seeking a stay on the release of Gangubai Kathiawadi.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, featuring Alia Bhatt in the title role, will therefore hit theatres without cuts on February 25, as scheduled.
Residents of Kamathipura, known to be red light area, had moved court seeking to get a reference to the area in south Mumbai removed from the movie.
A woman filed a petition on behalf of 55 others, stating that the film made ‘wild and derogatory’ claims to portray the entire area as a ‘red light hub’.
“The social impact the movie will cause is that all girl residents will be termed prostitutes, be teased and taunted, and the families will have to live with lowered dignity,” the petition said.
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Congress MLA Amin Patel, who had filed a PIL, wanted the film to be released with a disclaimer that it doesn’t want to show Kathiawadi community to be related to Gangubai Kathiawadi or indicate the entire area of Kamathipura is a red light area.
Social activist Hiten Mehta, on the other hand, pleaded for a stay on its release saying that the trailer of Gangubai Kathiawadi contained a scene which portrayed racial discrimination against people from north-east India.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Makarand S Karnik dismissed the petitions of Patel and Kamathipura residents, and also disposed of Mehta’s plea, stating that the reasons will be recorded separately in the order.
