Pakistani restaurant slammed for using Alia Bhatt's 'painful' 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' scene in advertisement

Scores of brands have been known to use scenes or dialogues from Bollywood films for promotional reasons. While some score the jackpot, others encounter flak for their distasteful approach. Such is the case of a Pakistani restaurant which has come under fire for using a clipping from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' starring Alia Bhatt.

The scene in question was of Alia's character standing at the gates of the brothel and seeking out potential customers by doing a hand gesture.

The restaurant used this painful clip to advertise a discount. The caption of the post as shared on Instagram read, “Aja na Raja - what are you waiting for? Swings is calling out all the Raja's out there. Ajao and avail a 25% discount on Men's Monday at Swings!”

After receiving flak for the same, it shared another post with a newspaper clipping that read, “Aray logon, itna dil pe kyun leliya? Movie kare tou aag, restaurant kare tou paap?”

It captioned the post as, “Just a concept. We didn't mean to hurt the sentiments of anyone. The movie and this post is based on a concept. Like before, we're open to all and will be serving you with the same love like we always have.”

'Gangubai Kathiawadi' revolves around a maiden sold by a suitor into prostitution and how she becomes a prominent and celebrated figure in the underworld and Kamathipua red-light district. It also starred superstar Ajay Devgn in a pivotal role.

Based on a chapter from S Hussain Zaidi's book 'Mafia Queens of Mumbai', 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' was backed by Bhansali Productions and Jayantilal Gada's Pen India Limited.

The film had its world premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival in February. After ruling Indian screens, it released on Netflix a month later.