Mumbai's oldest red light district, Kamathipura, is a maze of around 14 dingy, cramped lanes overlooked by gleaming, new skyscrapers - symbols of India's recent economic prosperity that has lifted millions out of poverty.
The name being given due to ‘Kamathis’ (Workers) of Andhra Pradesh migrated here to get work. The 150-year-old colonial structures can be seen in this area.
A forgotten but historically rich part of the city is about 39 acres is Asia’s largest red light area. Every person and every lane in Kamathipura has a story to tell.
The area was built by Britishers when in 1975 they had decided to connect the seven islands of Mumbai.
Throughout the 1800s, the British military established and maintained brothels for its troops to use across India. The girls, many in their early teens from poor, rural Indian families, were recruited and paid directly by the military, which also set their prices.
By 1864, there were eight neighbourhoods in Mumbai which were home to more than 500 prostitutes. Almost 60 years later, there were only two, with Kamathipura being the largest.
But in Kamathipura, time seems to have stood still. Nothing has changed in the place as young girls are still being auctioned there.
Kamathipura once had 50,000 sex workers during 1992, now hardly a few of them work there.
There are many NGO’s who are working day and night to stop sex trafficking and giving these women a new life. The area is home to a small cottage industry of about 200 women who make a living rolling beedis.
However, all of Kamathipura is not a sex district, yet it has gained that reputation.
Besides, many documentaries, films and web series are being made based on the life these sex workers in the red light area.
The forthcoming Sanjay Leela Bhansali film starring Alia Bhatt as a famous brothel madam is based on the life of the real queen of Mumbai’s red-light district in Kamathipura. Gangubai ‘Kathewali’—a play on the Hindi word ‘kothewali’ that translates to courtesan—was the ‘president of Kamathipura’ in the 1960s. The film is based on a chapter from S Hussain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens of Mumbai.
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