Alia Bhatt's 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' Becomes Most Watched Indian Film On Netflix

Gangubai Kathiawadi, the Alia Bhatt starrer, made its mark as Netflix’s most-watched Indian film with 50.6 million viewership hours. The biographical crime drama film Gangubai Kathiawadi was released in theatres on 25 February 2022 and made Rs 200 crore worldwide.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is the Indian film that spent the most weeks in the Top 10 at six weeks in a row. The Kriti Sanon starrer Mimi and the Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi follow behind with five weeks in the Top 10 list.

Gangubai Kathiawadi stars Alia Bhatt as the titular character alongside Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Seema Pahwa, Indira Tiwari, Jim Sarbh and Varun Kapoor. The film features actor Ajay Devgn in an extended cameo appearance as Rahim Lala, based on Karim Lala. Huma Qureshi makes a special appearance in the song 'Shikayat' as Dilruba, a Qawali singer. The film was directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bhansali and Jayantilal Gada.

The film is loosely based on the life of Ganga Jagjivandas Kathiawadi, also known as Gangubai Kothewali. Gangubai Kothewali’s life was documented in the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai by journalists S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

The film follows the life of the titular character Gangubai Kathiawadi and how the barrister’s daughter who wanted to become an actor was sold to a brothel in Kamathipura, Mumbai and forced into becoming a sex worker. She later became the madam of the brothel and was known as the Madam of Kamathipura. Gangubai met with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to discuss the rights of sex workers. She became a public figure that fought for the rights of the sex workers and their children.

Gangubai Kathiawadi Netflix's Most-Watched Indian Film

Gangubai Kathiawadi reached Netflix after two months of theatrical release. It premiered online on Netflix on April 26 and received global acclaim. Since its premiere on Netflix on April 26, Gangubai Kathiawadi spent six consecutive weeks on the Top 10 list and reached 50.6 million viewership hours, making Gangubai Kathiawadi Netflix's most-watched Indian film.

Netflix only shares viewership data on notable occasions and made the top 10 list available publicly in 2021 after changing the viewership metric from ‘views’ to ‘hours watched’.

Suggested Reading: 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' Gets Global Acclaim; What Makes Audience Connect With Film?