Three years ago, when Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali released the Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi, it propelled a series of reactions; public interest in Kamathipura was renewed, talks on the working conditions of commercial sex workers found a new voice and with all the praise for the film, came a band of critics who criticised Bhansali for whitewashing and glamorising reality. The stigma attached to the precinct is hardly draped in pristine white fabric; the everyday conversations are rarely timed, eloquent retorts and the stereotypes often seep into the lives of the regular people in the area as well — an unsaid side of the neighbourhood which has found a platform in the documentary of 20-year-old Arnav Pagawad.A student of the Bachelor of Arts in Film, Television & New Media Production course at the Vile Parle-based Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Pagawad’s documentary, Beyond the Brothels–The Kamathipura Story, releasing this Thursday on YouTube seeks to talk about the other inhabitants of the area.
“Most media accounts of Kamathipura are about the commercial sex work that happens there, and while that is true, people don’t see it beyond that perspective,” Pagawad, the director of the film, confesses. A former resident of the locality, Pagawad’s cinematic lens steers clear of the brothels to focus on the crammed chawls and buildings, shops, temples and everyday lives of the factory workers and local residents.The g.