Alia Bhatt defends Vijay Raaz’s casting as a trans woman in Gangubai Kathiawadi: ‘It’s up to the director’

Actor Alia Bhatt has defended the casting of cis actor Vijay Raaz as a trans character in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi. In the film, due out on February 25, Alia plays the titular madam of a brothel-turned-mafia don, while Vijay Raaz plays Raziabai.
Both actors’ casting attracted criticism, but for different reasons. While Alia has admitted that people found her to be too young to play Gangubai, others said that a trans actor should have been cast in the role that went to Vijay Raaz.

In an interview to Deadline on the sidelines of the film’s premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, Alia was asked about the criticism directed at Vijay’s casting. She said, “I have heard this conversation various times for different films. While I do understand where they’re coming from, I feel like it’s up to the director and their vision. It’s not there to offend anyone, maybe the director found it interesting to have an actor like Vijay Raaz, who identifies as male, play a trans character. The audience has never seen him that way, you see the actor and the ability to transform within that person. I think that’s a better perspective, but I do understand where people are coming from.”
In a recent interview with the Indian Express, Alia spoke about the backlash that her own casting attracted, and said, “People did think that I am not right for this particular part because of the feeling it gave. Gangubai, the mafia queen, has a some weight, intensity and grit to it. Because of the perception and personality, and the face that I have, people would imagine that I am cute, bubbly, young, soft, and gentle. So how can I be playing a mafia queen? I totally understand where they are coming from because I was also one of those people when I first heard the narration. I wondered whether I’ll be able to pull it off. But the big answer is that this is a director who’s been working for 25 years and he obviously has a vision. He’s not going to do things just for the heck of it.”
Gangubai Kathiawadi is based on a chapter in Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai. This is her first collaboration with Bhansali, who has directed film such as Padmaavat and Bajirao Mastani in the past.
Also starring Ajay Devgn, Jim Sarbh and Seema Pahwa, Gangubai Kathiawadi will arrive in theatres next week, after numerous Covid-related delays.