Alia Bhatt to lead Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi, to release on 11 September 2020

Alia Bhatt finally has her chance to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. After the breakdown of their last project, Inshallah, the two are now set to come together for Gangubai Kathiawadi (2020). The project will be backed by Jayantilal Gada's Pen India Ltd. 

The news was broken by trade analyst Taran Adarsh, who added that the film will aim for a release date on 11 September 2020. 

The story will be based on a portion from S Hussain Zaidi's bestseller, Mafia Queens of Mumbai. The story will follow the journey of Gangubai Kathiawadi who was forced into prostitution as a young girl, but went on to become the defacto ruler of the Kamathipura area of Mumbai. She was also one of the staunch supporters for the rights and protection of the young girls pushed into the work. 

Bhatt confirmed the news by sharing the title and release date on her social media account. 

Bhatt and Bhansali were initially working on Inshallah, alongside Salman Khan. However, owing to creative differences, Khan dropped out of the project in August, after which Bhansali Productions announced that they 'will not be going ahead with the project'. 

The film will also be Bhansali's first directorial venture since Padmaavat (2018) last year, which went on to become one of the big box office hits of his career.