we don t really get characters written like this for women very often where they are like sort of front foot, owning the screen. there is power, there s strength, there s vulnerability, there s romance, there s drama. there is a lot ofjuice, just for the one character. at the start of the film, gangubai is betrayed by her lover and pushed into prostitution, but she rises up within that world, eventually becoming an activist fighting for the rights of prostitutes and calling for prostitution to be legalised. the audience is now willing to see new stories, they want to see new treatments and through the covid phase they have seen a lot of world cinema and now the whole approach is changed, they are willing to see some more subtle, more delicate, something which they have not seen before. gangubai kathiawadi seemed to please berlin audiences. it has a handsome, visually distinct style in keeping with the director s previous