''Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar'' is a 2024 Indian

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

television series created and directed by

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sanjay Leela Bhansali (; born 24 February 1963) is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and music composer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfar ...

. The series is about the lives of ''

tawaif A ''tawaif'' was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal Empire, Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre, and the Urdu l ...

s'' in the

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

Heera Mandi Heera Mandi (Urdu and pa, , lit=Diamond Market), sometimes referred to as Shahi Mohallah (''"Royal Neighbourhood"''), is a neighbourhood and bazaar located in the Walled City of Lahore. It is specifically known as the red light district of Lahor ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

during the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

against the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. It stars

Manisha Koirala Manisha Koirala (; born 16 August 1970) is a Nepalese actress who works in Cinema of India, Indian films, predominantly in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films and has also worked in few Telugu language, Telugu, Bengali language, Bengali, Mala ...

Sonakshi Sinha Sonakshi Sinha (; born 2 June 1987) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. After working as a costume designer in independent films, she made her acting with the action film ''Dabangg'' in 2010, which won her the Filmfare Award for Bes ...

Aditi Rao Hydari Aditi Rao Hydari is an Indian actress who works mainly in Hindi and Tamil film industry. She made her film debut with the Malayalam film '' Prajapathi'' in 2006. She went on to have major to minor supporting roles in several Hindi films, includ ...

Richa Chadha Richa Chadda (born 18 December 1986) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. After debuting in a small role in the comedy film ''Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!'' (2008), Chadda's breakthrough came in 2012 with a supporting role in the noir gangs ...

Sanjeeda Sheikh Sanjeeda Sheikh (born 20 December 1984) is an Indian actress who works in the Hindi television industry. She is one of the most famous actresses on Indian television. Early life She was born in Kuwait into a religious Muslim family who hail ...

, Sharmin Segal Mehta and Taha Shah Badussha. The series was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

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

against

British rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

in the 1940s, ''Heeramandi'' chronicles the lives of ''

s'' of the

Cast

Main

as Mallikajaan: chief

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

of Shahi Mahal *

as **Rehanajaan: former chief courtesan of Shahi Mahal, Mallikajaan and Waheeda's elder sister **Fareedanjaan: chief courtesan of Khwabgah and Rehana's daughter *

as Bibbojaan: Mallikajaan's elder daughter * Sharmin Segal Mehta as Alamzeb: Mallikajaan's youngest daughter *

as Waheedajaan: Rehana and Mallikajaan's younger sister *

as Lajwanti "Lajjo": Mallikajaan's foster daughter * Taha Shah Badusha as

Nawab Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian language, Persian, Punjabi language, Punjabi , Sindhi language, Sindhi, Urd ...

Tajdar Baloch: an advocate and Alamzeb's lover

Recurring

Farida Jalal Farida Jalal (born Farida Sami; 18 May 1950) is an Indian actress who primarily worked in Hindi films. In a film career spanning almost fifty years, Jalal appeared in over 200 films. Best known for her character-driven roles in independent cin ...

as Qudsia Begum: Tajdar's grandmother *

Adhyayan Suman Adhyayan Suman (born 13 January 1988) is an Indian actor and singer who appears in Hindi language films. He debuted in 2008 with '' Haal–e–dil''. His second film was ''Raaz – The Mystery Continues'' was a semi-hit. Suman's was praised fo ...

as Zoravar Ali Khan / Imaad: Mallikajaan's son and Lajjo's patron *

Fardeen Khan Fardeen Khan (; born 8 March 1974) is an Indian actor. He is the recipient of a Filmfare Award (1999) and is the son of the actor, director, and film producer Feroz Khan. Early life and education Fardeen Khan was born on 8 March 1974 in Mumba ...

as Wali Bin Zayed-Al Mohammed: Bibbojaan's and Fareedan's patron *

Shekhar Suman Shekhar Suman (born 7 December 1962) is an Indian actor, anchor, producer, director, and singer. Personal life Shekhar Suman married Alka Suman on 4 May 1983, and has a son Adhyayan Suman, a Bollywood film actor. An older son, Aayush, died o ...

as Khan Bahadur Zulfikar Ahmed: Mallikajaan's patron **

as young Zulfikar *Indresh Malik as Ustaad *

Jason Shah Jason Shah (born 14 December 1987) is a British-Indian actor and fitness model. He has participated in the 10th season of the reality show Bigg Boss (Hindi season 10), ''Bigg Boss'' as a wildcard entrant, and played Captain Hugh Ross in Jhansi ...

as Alastair Cartwright *

Jayati Bhatia Jayati Bhatia (born July 28, 1970) is an Indian actress. She is best known for her role as Nirmala "Mataji" Bharadwaj in ''Sasural Simar Ka'' (2011–18), one of the most longest-running TV shows that aired on Colors TV. Currently she's essay ...

as Phatto: Mallikajaan's maid *Nivedita Bhargava as Satto: Mallikajaan's maid *Abha Ranta as young Mallikajaan *

Vaishnavi Ganatra Vaishnavi Ganatra is an Indian actress. She has appeared on TV shows like ''Hamari Wali Good News,'' '' Rakshabandhan... Rasal Apne Bhai Ki Dhal,'' ''Woh Toh Hai Albelaa'', ''Mauka-E-Vardaat,'' ''Naagin 6'' and ''Teri Meri Doriyaann ''Ter ...

as young Waheeda *

Shruti Sharma Shruti Sharma is an Indian model, beauty pageant contestant and actress. She was the first runner up and winner of Miss India World title at the 2002 Femina Miss India pageant. She represented India at the 2002 Miss World pageant held at Lo ...

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 Anju Mahendru is an Indian actress. She is best known as Reeva in ''Kahiin to Hoga'', Kamini Gupta in '' Kasautii Zindagii Kay'' and Beeji in ''Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai''. Personal life Mahendru was briefly engaged to cricket player Gar ...

as Phoophi *Abhishek Deswal as Nawaz *

Ujjwal Chopra Ujjawal Chopra is an Indian Bollywood and television actor. He played the character of Gora Singh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ''Padmaavat'', and as Solanki in ''Special 26 ''Special 26'' is an Indian Hindi-language 2013 period heist thrill ...

as Ashfaq Baloch: Tajdar's father *Pankaj Bhatia as Feroze: Waheeda and Shama's patron

Series overview

Episodes

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 Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides ...

'' 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 ''Bajirao Mastani'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language epic historical romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who co-produced it with Eros International and composed its soundtrack. The film stars Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priy ...

'' and ''

Padmaavat ''Padmaavat'' is a 2018 Indian period romantic action drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Rajput queen known for her ...

'', replacing

Vibhu Puri Vibhu Puri is an Indian film director, writer and lyricist. A gold medalist from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Vibhu Puri's debut feature as a director and producer, ''Hawaizaada'', featuring Mithun Chakraborty and Ayush ...

, who had previously been hired. In a 2023 interview with Netflix's CEO

Ted Sarandos Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr. is an American businessman who serves as the co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix. Early life Sarandos was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was Ted Sarandos Sr, an electrician, and ...

, Bhansali described ''Heeramandi'' as his "biggest project" and that the series would be a tribute to the films ''

Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village woma ...

'' (1957), ''

Mughal-e-Azam ''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (who went on ...

'' (1960), and ''

Pakeezah ''Pakeezah'' (; ) is a 1972 Indian Hindustani-language musical romantic drama film that was written, directed, and produced by Kamal Amrohi. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, and Raaj Kumar. It tells the story of Sahibjaan, a Lucknow ...

'' (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 Patience Cooper was an Anglo-Indian actres, and one of the early superstars of Bollywood. She was the daughter of Phoebe Stella Gamble (born in Calcutta in 1881; daughter of John Frederick Gamble and Phoebe Stella Clement whose mother was Armen ...

Suraiya Suraiya Jamal Sheikh (15 June 1929 – 31 January 2004), popularly known by the mononym Suraiya, was a popular actress and playback singer in India's Hindi-language films. She was active from 1936 to 1963, and was the most celebrated actress ...

, Swaran Lata,

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan ( Punjabi: ) (born () Allah Rakhi Wasai ; 23 September 1926 – 23 December 2000; sometimes spelled Noorjehan),Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema,'' British Film Institute, Oxford University Pres ...

Shamshad Begum Shamshad Begum (Hindi: शमशाद बेगम, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and ...

and

Mukhtar Begum Mukhtar Begum was a Pakistani classical, ghazal singer and actress. She was known as ''The Queen of Music'' for singing songs in films and on radio. She worked in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu films and was known for her roles in films ''Hathili Dulh ...

. In an interview with Lilly Singh, Bhansali also said that he wanted to cast Pakistani actors

Mahira Khan Mahira Hafeez Khan (; born 21 December 1984) is a Pakistani actress. She started her career as a VJ in 2006. Khan is best known for portraying the role of Khirad Hussain in the romantic-drama '' Humsafar'' for which she received numerous acc ...

Fawad Khan Fawad Afzal Khan ( ur, ) (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor, producer, screenwriter, model and singer having received several awards including a Filmfare Award, two Lux Style Awards and six Hum Awards. Khan began his acting caree ...

and

Imran Abbas Syed Imran Abbas Naqvi (born 15 October 1982), professionally known by his stage name Imran Abbas, is a Pakistani actor and model who works predominantly in Urdu television. Abbas made his acting debut with ''Umrao Jaan Ada'' in 2003 and lat ...

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 Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian s ...

and sung by

Raja Hasan Raja Hasan is an Indian playback singer who was born in December 1982 in the city of Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. He was a finalist on ''Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007'', in which he finished as runner-up to Aneek Dhar. Recently he was a judge i ...

, was released on 8 March 2024. On 2 April, the second song "Tilasmi Bahein", sung by Sharmistha Chatterjee, was released. The

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s "Phool Gendwa Na Maaro" and "Nazariya Ki Maari" had earlier been used in the Bollywood films ''Dooj Ka Chand'' (1964) and ''

'' (1972) respectively. Each classical composition has been picturized on every actor from the primary cast, mostly in the form of their

mujra Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society (often connected to the Mughal emperor's court) used to frequent courtesans ...

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

for later in the year. The following month, it was announced that the series would premiere on 1 May 2024.

Reception

Viewership

During 29 April – 5 May 2024, ''Heeramandi'' was the second most-watched non-English show on

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 ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' stated "Filmed on a massive budget, Heeramandi is stunning to behold." Dhaval Roy of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' 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 ''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18. The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Raghav ...

'' 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 Saibal Chatterjee is an Indian film critic, an author of a book on Gulzar, co-editor of a book on films; and a documentary scriptwriter. He was a columnist at BBC News, Business Standard, Hindustan Times and Financial Express. And a staff writer of ...

of ''

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

'' 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 Sukanya Verma is an Indian journalist and film critic. She has been the principal movie reviewer with web portal ''Rediff.com''. She has written a number of columns as a freelance writer for ''The Hindu''. She is a member of the Film Critics Gui ...

of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' 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 Shubhra Gupta is an Indian film critic, writer and columnist for ''The Indian Express'' from New Delhi, India. She received the Ramnath Goenka Award for Best Writing on Cinema in 2012. She was a member of the Central Board of Film Certificati ...

for ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' 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."

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heeramandi Indian drama television series Television shows set in the British Raj Hindi-language television shows Netflix original programming Television shows set in India Television series set in the 1910s Television series set in the 1920s Television series set in the 1930s Television series set in the 1940s Television series set in 1945 Television shows set in Lahore Indian prostitution TV series Television series set in the Indian independence movement Partition of India in fiction Indian courtesans drama series Works about prostitution in India Indian musical television series 2020s Indian television series Indian romance television series Television shows filmed in India Urdu-language television shows Punjabi-language television shows 2024 Indian television series debuts Indian LGBT-related television shows Fictional portrayals of police departments in India