Vikram Bhatt on Alia Bhatt being trolled for Gangubai Kathiawadi teaser: ‘Skin of an entertainer should be thick’

Vikram Bhatt reacted to Alia Bhatt being criticised for the timing of the release of the Gangubai Kathiawadi teaser. He said that the ‘skin of an entertainer should be thick’.

Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt opened up about the trolling faced by actor Alia Bhatt for the release of the Gangubai Kathiawadi teaser in February, during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that criticism is a part and parcel of the life of an entertainer.

Alia Bhatt in and as Gangubai Kathiawadi.

Alia plays the lead role in Gangubai Kathiawadi, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film is based on a chapter from Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens Of Mumbai.

Speaking to a leading daily, Vikram said, “As we speak, even now I am getting trolled by a lot of people over here. But the skin of an entertainer should be thick.” He said that earlier, the audience would throw rotten tomatoes, slippers or even flowers, while watching theatre artistes perform on stage, adding that the life of an entertainer is such. “People will either throw stones or flowers, but people will throw something or the other, so be ready. If one wants fame and one wants people to meet them and like them, there will be some people who will not like them too.”

Vikram said that some trolls say things ‘for the heck of it’, citing the example of viewers who pass comments while watching films in theatres. “Agar log log nahi rahenge toh, humaari filmein kaun dekhega (If these people don't exist, who will watch our films?). But I must tell you that these people praise you as well when they love your work. I don’t give importance to trolling. But I don’t log on to Twitter because I feel over there people go to abuse you only,” he said.

Gangubai Kathiawadi has Alia playing the titular role of a brothel owner in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai. Gangubai was a powerful figure in the 1960s and was said to have contacts in the underworld. The film is slated for a theatrical release on July 30 but reports suggest that the makers might go the OTT route.