A massive hype followed after Shantanu Maheshwari joined the cast of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s directorial ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ (2022) and it kept the fans waiting for his debut on the silver screen. When the actor finally arrived on the big screen in the role of Afshan, we knew he was onto something. The 31-year-old actor, who essayed the role of a tailor smitten by Gangu (Alia Bhatt), the madame of Kamathipura has now bagged Best Bollywood Actor And Outstanding Performance Award for the said film at Empower Business Icon Awards 2022.
Excited Shantanu Maheshwari says, “It’s an honour that this award has been bestowed upon me for my first film. I thank my family for supporting my unconventional decisions and my well wishers for their unwavering love. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ is an actor’s dream debut. I’m blessed to have had the chance to meet people in theatres as Afshan through this film. The journey has just begun.”
Shantanu brought an old world charm to the celluloid in the Bhansali directorial. His portrayal of Afshan was an embodiment of the innocence of love in a fiefdom of sex workers. The movie and the actor’s adorable performance as a besotted tailor was lauded by the critics. The actor scored points on the grounds maturity in his craft despite his boyish charm and an electrifying chemistry with Alia. His love story with Alia in the film went down as one of the most memorable highlights of the film.
Loosely based on S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges’ book, Mafia Queens Of Mumbai, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ follows Ganga’s journey from a small-town girl in Gujarat, to the queen of Kamathipura in Mumbai.
