Heeramandi

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is a 2024 Indian period drama television series created and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The series is about the lives of tawaifs in the red-light district of Heera Mandi in Lahore during the Indian independence movement against the British Raj. It stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal Mehta and Taha Shah Badussha.

The series was released on Netflix on 1 May 2024 and received mixed reviews from critics. A month later, it was renewed for a second season.

Premise
With a backdrop of the Indian independence movement against British rule in India in the 1940s, Heeramandi chronicles the lives of tawaifs of the red-light district of Heera Mandi in Lahore.

Main

 * Manisha Koirala as Mallikajaan: chief courtesan of Shahi Mahal
 * Sonakshi Sinha as
 * Rehanajaan: former chief courtesan of Shahi Mahal, Mallikajaan and Waheeda's elder sister
 * Fareedanjaan: chief courtesan of Khwabgah and Rehana's daughter
 * Aditi Rao Hydari as Bibbojaan: Mallikajaan's elder daughter
 * Sharmin Segal Mehta as Alamzeb: Mallikajaan's youngest daughter
 * Sanjeeda Sheikh as Waheeda: Rehana and Mallikajaan's younger sister
 * Richa Chadha as Lajwanti "Lajjo": Mallikajaan's foster daughter
 * Taha Shah Badusha as Nawab Tajdar Baloch: an advocate and Alamzeb's lover

Recurring

 * Farida Jalal as Qudsia Begum: Tajdar's grandmother
 * Adhyayan Suman as Zoravar Ali Khan / Imaad: Mallikajaan's son and Lajjo's patron
 * Fardeen Khan as Wali Bin Zayed-Al Mohammed: Bibbojaan's and Fareedan's patron
 * Shekhar Suman as Khan Bahadur Zulfikar Ahmed: Mallikajaan's patron
 * Adhyayan Suman as young Zulfikar
 * Indresh Malik as Ustaad
 * Jason Shah as Alastair Cartwright
 * Jayati Bhatia as Phatto: Mallikajaan's maid
 * Nivedita Bhargava as Satto: Mallikajaan's maid
 * Abha Ranta as young Mallikajaan
 * Vaishnavi Ganatra as young Waheeda
 * Shruti Sharma as Saima / Mirza Begum: Alamzeb's maid, Iqbal's lover
 * Rajat Kaul as Iqbal "Balli" Singh: Mallikajaan's driver, Saima's lover
 * Pratibha Ranta as Shama: Waheeda's daughter
 * Anuj Sharma as Hamid Mohsin Ali
 * Mark Bennington as Samuel Henderson
 * Astha Mittal as Huma
 * Nasirr Khan as Choudhry
 * Anju Mahendru as Phoophi
 * Abhishek Deswal as Nawaz
 * Ujjwal Chopra as Ashfaq Baloch: Tajdar's father
 * Pankaj Bhatia as Feroze: Waheeda and Shama's patron

Production
Heera Mandi was officially announced in April 2021, as a project Bhansali had envisaged 14 years ago. The eight-part series, which also marks Bhansali's first foray into streaming, began filming in June 2022. Filming was reported to have ended a year later in June 2023, after Bhansali asked for reshoots in May. Bollywood Hungama reported that Bhansali directed the pilot episode, while the rest of the episodes were directed by Mitakshara Kumar, who had worked as an associate director to Bhansali in Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat, replacing Vibhu Puri, who had previously been hired.

In a 2023 interview with Netflix's CEO Ted Sarandos, Bhansali described Heeramandi as his "biggest project" and that the series would be a tribute to the films Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), and Pakeezah (1972).

In an interview designers Rimple Narula and Harpreet Narula revealed that some of the creations for the series, were inspired from the style of Patience Cooper, Suraiya, Swaran Lata, Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum and Mukhtar Begum. In an interview with Lilly Singh, Bhansali also said that he wanted to cast Pakistani actors Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan and Imran Abbas in the series but this did not materialise due to the ban on collaborating with actors from Pakistan.

Soundtrack
The first song from the soundtrack "Sakal Ban", composed by Bhansali, with lyrics written by Amir Khusro and sung by Raja Hasan, was released on 8 March 2024. On 2 April, the second song "Tilasmi Bahein", sung by Sharmistha Chatterjee, was released. The folk songs "Phool Gendwa Na Maaro" and "Nazariya Ki Maari" had earlier been used in the Bollywood films Dooj Ka Chand (1964) and Pakeezah (1972) respectively.

Each classical composition has been picturized on every actor from the primary cast, mostly in the form of their mujra performances in the show. "Tilasmi Bahein" is picturized on Sonakshi Sinha, "Phool Gendwa Na Maaro" and "Saiyaan Hatto Jaao" on Aditi Rao Hydari, "Chaudhavi Shab" on Sharmin Segal, "Nazariya Ki Maari" on Sanjeeda Shaikh and "Masoom Dil Hai Mera" on Richa Chadha. "Sakal Ban" and "Azadi" include most of the primary female cast.

Release
A teaser of the series was released in February 2024, with a release date planned on Netflix for later in the year. The following month, it was announced that the series would premiere on 1 May 2024.

Viewership
During 29 April – 5 May 2024, Heeramandi was the second most-watched non-English show on Netflix globally. It received 4.5 million views, with 33 million viewership hours in its debut week, breaking the record for the most-viewed Indian series in its first week of release. It was trending at number-one in 10 countries and was among the top ten most-watched shows in 43 countries.

Critical response
Shilajit Mitra of The Hindu stated "Filmed on a massive budget, Heeramandi is stunning to behold." Dhaval Roy of The Times of India commented "Heeramandi, overall, might feel like a long watch, but the cinematic experience will linger on long after its conclusion."

Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost gave 4/5 stars and commended, "Bhansali‘s eight-part series is not only a treat to the eyes, but is a lesson of history too". Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 3 stars and praised Bhansali's effort. Chatterjee stated that "In the climate that obtains in today's India, the espousal of the subcontinent's entrenched syncretism is a noteworthy thematic strand that should not be lost in the hypnotic glow of the glitzy Heeramandi universe that Bhansali conjures up."

Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com rated 3/5 stars and observed "Heeramandi, a passion project that took off after years in development and planning, mirrors Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film-making's finest and frustrating features." Shubhra Gupta for The Indian Express rated the series 2.5 stars and opined "Bhansali's world, awash with his trademark shine and glitter, sets out to tell us the story of these 'other' women, once such an integral part of Indian popular culture."

Indian classical dancer, and founder of The Courtesan Project, Manjari Chaturvedi believes that "Heeramandi does not make a good distinction between tawaifs and prostitutes or sex workers. It leaves people with the impression that tawaifs were illiterate women scheming for mere sexual favours. Heeramandi does not have much reference to the historical tawaif culture."