Alia Bhatt’s lust for language

Long ago, writer-director Mahesh Bhatt had asked a journalist to help Alia Bhatt learn Tamil for her role in the film 2 States. She then learnt the way Hindi is spoken by Biharis for her role in Udta Punjab, followed by perfecting her Mumbaiyya dialect for Gully Boy, her Urdu for Raazi, and her Telugu for Rajamouli’s film RRR.

Now she will soon jump into learning Kathiyawadi for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathaiwadi. “Kathiawadi is spoken by the Kathis, who migrated to Gujarat in the 8th Century. Kathaiwar actually forms the core of Saurashtra and is spoken there extensively.  Gangubai is the woman from Bombay’s red-light area called Kamathipura, who ran multiple brothels and later offered protection to the women who were forced into the flesh trade. She had even had a chat with the then prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru when she met him to apprise him about the problems of the women in the business,” says a source.

Gangubai Kathaiwadi will go on the floors in the next few weeks at Mumbai’s Film City.