Imagine Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, based on the courtesans of Lahore and the life of red-light district in undivided India, but through the eyes of David Dhawan. That is what could have happened as the series’ original story writer Moin Beg was “frustrated” with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali as the director kept delaying the project.
Bhansali said he first heard the story of Heeramandi in 2002, after the release of Shah Rukh Khan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Devdas. It was Aditya Pancholi, who made Bhansali meet Moin Beg.
“He said, ‘This is Moin, my friend, and he’s lived in Heera Mandi for 10 years. He has been travelling up and down Heera Mandi and has researched about it. Hear his idea,'” Bhansali told India Today as he recalled the years Heeramandi took to finally get made.
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The filmmaker said when he first heard the story, it was etched in his mind and sniffed a potential to be turned into a grand film. “A lot of actors from the industry like Saira Banu ji and Dilip (Kumar) Saab kept saying, ‘Make Heeramandi.’ They were all very attached to the story; they all knew Moin,” he added.
But the project was far from going on floors back then, which would leave Moin “frustrated” as the filmmaker went on to make new announcements of his films.
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“He would come home and cry. I would say I’m making Bajirao Mastani, he would say, ‘Give it to me, I’m taking it to David Dhawan, I don’t want to keep the script with you.’ Then I would say I’m making Padmaavat, and he would say, ‘I’m done. Either Madhur Bhandarkar or David Dhawan,'” Bhansali said, adding that when Beg threatened to take the story of Heeramandi to other filmmakers, he told him, “Please take it and go.”
Netflix show Heeramandi was released earlier this May to mixed response, though it continued to dominate the social media space with the discourse it generated. The project, created and directed by Bhansali, marked his series debut.
Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chaddha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Sharmin Segal.
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