Gangubai Kathiawadi trailer: Alia Bhatt opens up on how she transformed herself into the famous sex worker [EXCLUSIVE]

Alia Bhatt looks to not only have owned the eponymous character of Gangubai Kathiawadi, but also have made it so convincing that it might be her best performance yet, yes, even better than Raazi

Gangubai Kathiawadi trailer, starring Alia Bhatt in the eponymous role, with Ajay Devgn in a dashing extended cameo, has all the makings of a quintessential Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, and then some. While it breathes the opulence and striking visuals we've come to associate from the celebrated SLB, it's also a detour from his usual work, and for that he needed his lead star to completely own the character. Alia Bhatt looks to not only have done that, but also make it so convincing that it might be her best performance yet, yes, even better than Raazi.

So, how did the petite Alia Bhatt transform herself into Gangubai Kathiawadi? During a casual chat with BollywoodLife immediately after the trailer preview, yesterday, 3rd February, Alia revealed that she approached a revered dialect coach to get her diction and voice modulation just right for the movie while also meeting a couple of real life sex workers from the notorious red-light area of Kamathipura, where the real-life Gangubai Kathiwadi had ruled as the madame for years. Other than that though it's been completely her observation, efforts and the unending faith in her Director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's vision, which have helped her nail the character.

Besides Alia Bhatt in the starring role and Ajay Devgn in an extended cameo, Gangubai Kathiawadi also stars Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa and Jim Sarbh in pivotal supporting roles. It's been jointly produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bhansali Productions and Jayantilal Gada's Pen India Limited, with the latter also functioning as the movie's distributor.