If Sanjay Leela Bhansali could make Mumbai’s Kamathipura sparkle in Gangubai Kathiawadi, Heera Mandi is bound to be drowned in glitter, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar looks grand in the style of period epics like Mughal-e-Azam and Pakeezah.
Heera Mandi was the red light district of Lahore, now in Pakistan, which could hardly have been as opulent as the visuals in the teaser released by Netflix but Bhansali does not deal in grubby realism.
If he could make Mumbai’s Kamathipura sparkle in Gangubai Kathiawadi, Heera Mandi is bound to be drowned in glitter.
The teaser, with a lot of swirling ghagras, fountains and glitz, and some quick gun shots, just hints at the time — during the British Raj — and possible plot line of the courtesans’ involvement in the freedom struggle.
It is presented as an ‘epic saga of Love, Power, and Freedom’ where courtesans were once queens.
Like films and folk legends about tawaifs like Umrao Jaan and Pazeekah, Chaudvin of Mirza Ghalib, Heerabai of Mangal Pandey, Bhansali seems to pay tribute to the art of the courtesan, rather that dwell on the exploitativeness of the profession.
The famed tawaifs could not be labelled as prostitutes; they had royal and aristocratic patrons and were also the repositories of Hindustani classical music, dance and poetry.
Some of the actresses in early Hindi cinema were reported to have origins in Heera Mandi.
The minute-long teaser, also shows off its cast of beautiful women dressed in finery: Exquisite brocade and jewellery, hands hennaed with intricate designs, kohl-rimmed eyes conveying seductiveness and grace.
The line-up of actresses include Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha and Sanjeeda Sheikh.
Bhansali will make sure that they all look their best, and there is likely to be an award-winning performance or two among this posse of talented women.
There are males in the cast too (Fardeen Khan and Shekhar Suman among them), but the teaser keeps them out.
