The Real Story Of Heeramandi
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an extraordinary Indian director who has taken Indian films to a global audience with his marvellous stories, larger-than-life settings, and authentic characters, and he made our Indian stories proud. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is gearing up for his debut web series, Heeramandi, on Netflix. Do you know the real story about the place, Heeramandi?
Heeramandi is an Urdu word meaning a diamond market, and it is also a market in Lahore, Pakistan. Bhansali had this story with him for the past 14 years, and Moin Baig gave him this idea. However, the director could not work on the idea as he was busy with Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit’s Devdas then. Then, who imagined this untouched story would become one of the big Indian web series under the direction of one of India’s top directors, Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
According to history, this area was the centre of power for Ranjit Singh, the last king of Punjab. Heera Singh, Ranjit Singh’s son, later became the successor and took control. In his honour, the location was named Heera Mandi. Heera Mandi was also famous for courtesan (tawaif) culture, especially during the Mugul era. The Mughal kings used to bring women from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to perform dances for entertainment. Later, the area gained popularity for prostitution. To date, Heera Mandi is considered a red-light area in Pakistan. During the day, the area is just like an ordinary market, but as it dawns, the brothels are opened and become a prostitution hub.
The Pakistanis are not very happy with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s web series. They do not want anyone other than their country to showcase their history and story from their country’s perspective. When the project was announced in 2021, Pakistani actress Ushna Shah opposed the idea of Indians making a film about their culture and history from an Indian’s point of view. Ushna Shah said, “Culture collaboration is one thing, but this is appropriation. Mimicking ours will make the project lose authenticity! India has a plethora of rich culture and history to film; this isn’t theirs to make!”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi web series is the story of courtesans of Heeramandi, and these strong women roles are played by Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Segal.
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