Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest film Gangubai Kathiwadi is based on the story of a brothel madam who gave it her all to improve the lives of the sex workers.

Speaking to an entertainment portal earlier, Sanjay Leela Bhansali gave an insight into his childhood which was spent growing up in a colony very near to Kamathipura, the red light area in Mumbai where the storyline of his film is based. He shares how he was brought up in a chawl very near to that place and would often witness the sight of these sex workers on his way to and back from school.

Sharing with a leading daily on how inhuman and painful a journey it is for these sex workers, he commented, “You’re sensitive to what you see as a child. How can a person’s rate be Rs 20?. These were the things that stayed in my mind. But I could not tell them completely. I was finding them through Chandramukhi… We are priceless for ourselves, we can’t be tagged. We can’t be sold for Rs 5 or Rs 20 or Rs 50. It is inhuman.”

Gangubai Kathiawadi also has Seema Pahwa, Shantanu Maheshwari, and Ajay Devgn in lead roles.