Gangubai Kothewali is one of the most feared women in Mumbai’s underworld. In the 1960s, she ran several brothels in Mumbai. She is popularly known as “Mrs. Kamatipura”.
Wiki/Biography & Career
Gangubai Kothiawadi was born Ganga Harjivandas in 1939 into a prominent family in Katiawad, Gujarat. Ganga’s father and brother were against the mainstream social norms of the 1940s and were very strict in her education. However, she wanted to be an actress since she was a child. Fascinated by movies and acting, Gangu wanted to go to Mumbai after hearing stories from friends who had been to the city about big buildings, cars and movies. While in college, she fell in love with her father’s accountant, Ramnik Lal, and ran away from home with him. According to reports, they tied the knot secretly at a small temple in Kathiawad. Ganga then packed some of her clothes, cash and her mother’s jewelery (at Ramnik’s insistence) into a small bag. Later, the two moved to Mumbai by train. They reached Mumbai two days later and stayed in a hut. In the hotel, Ramnik had sex with Ganga for the first time. The couple spent the next few days traveling across the city. Almost a week later, Ramnik asked Ganga to stay at his aunt’s house for a few days as hotels were getting very expensive. He said, “Hotels are getting more and more expensive… I’m going to find a small room for rent, and then you can live with my Masi.” Ganga agreed to his request, and soon, hers Her aunt (who called herself Sheila) came to pick her up at the cabin. Ramnik’s aunt did not make a good impression on Ganga, but she went with Sheila at Ramnik’s request, and Ramnik promised to return in a day. After Gangu reached Sheela’s residence, she came to know that she was being prostituted by her husband for just Rs. 500. The hard life in Mumbai’s red light district turned her into a strong lady. During that era, the notorious don Karim Lala used to rule an area in Mumbai. Kamathipura is also part of this region. Once, one of Karim Lala’s goons raped Gangubai, after which she rushed to Karim to demand justice and even tied a rakhi to Karim. Later, Gangubai himself became a victim of the prostitution trade and later became one of the most feared pimps in Kamathipura in the 1960s. She started her business in the red light district of Heramandi and owned a brothel in Kamathipura. Many famous gangsters and gangsters are her regular clients. Although she was a formidable woman, she had a tender attitude toward women who were prostituted. She had fought for such women and cared for them like a mother. One of the incidents included a fight between her and a prominent member of a prominent Mumbai gang. She fought for a girl in a brothel who was allegedly raped by gangsters. Gangubai is the undisputed queen of Mumbai’s brothel industry. Apparently, she never forced any girl into prostitution, but instead worked to improve the conditions of sex workers and orphans.
appearance
Height: 5′0″
Family, caste and boyfriends
Gangubai Kothwali belongs to a family from Gujarat that has close links with the royal family of Kathiawadi. Her family consists of prominent lawyers and educators. Not much is known about her parents. She ran away from home at a young age with her boyfriend Ramnik Lal, who first married her and eventually sold her into prostitution. She adopted four children. One of her son’s names was Babu Rawji Shah/Babu Raoji Shah. She also has a granddaughter Bharti, the daughter of her son Babu Raoji Shah.
fact
- Gangubai is known for his efforts to improve living conditions in Kamathipura.
- She is associated with some of the most feared gangsters in Mumbai as most of them are her regular clients.
- Gangu used the money he earned from customers at the brothel to make gold jewelry for himself. This was her only hobby besides watching movies at the nearby cinema.
- She was the first woman to open franchise brothels in different cities across the country. She even sold drugs and ordered killings.
- Gangubai had approached the then Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru, to discuss the problems faced by sex workers in her region. Nehru was reportedly impressed by her leadership skills and clarity of thinking.
- Apparently, Gangu proposed to Nehru when he asked her why she entered the brothel business when she could have found a good job and a husband.
- Although Gangubai lives in a slum in Kamatipura, she is a wealthy woman. She was the only woman in the brothel at the time who owned a black Bentley.
- It is reported that Gangubai was the guardian of many Tang people. She would provide them with shelter and even guide them in their time of need.
- Kosewali believes that if she gives her body for the pleasure of others, it does not give anyone the right to abuse her or degrade her dignity.
- Gangubai’s kind heart won her many admirers. Even today, her idols and picture frames adorn many of the walls of Kamathipura.
- Gangubai also appears in a chapter of Hussain Zaidi’s book “Mafia Queens of Mumbai”.
- In 2019, Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali decided to make a film titled “Gangubai Kathiawadi” based on the true story of Gangubai. Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt will essay the role of ‘Gangu Bai’ in the film. The film was shelved in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown in India. It is now scheduled to be released on February 25, 2022.
Poster of the movie Gangubai Katiawadi
- Alia Bhatt was not the first choice for the film, the role was first offered to Priyanka Chopra but could not take up the project due to a date conflict with another of her films. It was then offered to Rani Mukerji but he refused.
- Shah expressed his dissatisfaction with the film in an interview, saying:
My mother was turned into a prostitute. Now people are saying weird things about my mother. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education