'Gangubhai Kathiawadi' has opened to a strong start at the box office collecting Rs 23.82 crores in its first two days of its release, thanks to the amazing reviews and the positive word-of-mouth due to Alia Bhatt's excellent performance and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's impeccable direction in the biographical crime-drama.
Popular television actor-dancer-choreographer Shantanu Maheshwari has made his Bollywood debut with the film, portraying Alia's love interest Afsaan in a pivotal role. Shantanu's chemistry with Alia in two songs, 'Jab Saiyaan' and 'Meri Jaan', released prior to the film's release had already created a buzz and now in a recent interview, he has talked about romancing Alia on the big screen in his debut film.
Talking to IndiaToday.in, the 'Dil Dosti Dance' actor told that their characters required intimate moments for the narrative to move forward and it also helped the character of Gangubai to move forward in the story. He added that it was extremely important for him and Alia to remain honest with their characters and they both are happy to get such strong characters for themselves.
Shantanu further added that Alia enhanced his performance calling her an amazing actress and mentioned, "Whatever work she has done in the past and whatever work she has done in Gangubai, it is like a big leap." He concluded in the interview that Bhatt is going to become a legend after 'Gangubai Kathiawadi'.
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READ | 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' movie review: Alia Bhatt's magnificent performance will leave you spellbound
In the DNA review, Alia Bhatt's performance is detailed as, "The conviction with which Alia has soaked every bit of Gangubai and presented it onscreen is relayed via her body language, voice, dialogue delivery, her expressions and adayegi. Although Alia carries this tremendous burden of convincingly essaying the role of a brothel madam turned mafia queen, she does it all with utmost grace."
