Heeramandi Review: Bhansali's Debut Series Is Poetic, Delicious; Manisha Koirala Is a Scene-Stealer

Grand and opulent kothas that smell of love, lust and betrayal. Debauched nawabs. Lovelorn and ambitious tawaifs. A forbidden bazaar. And a struggle to break free from the shackles of British Raj and gilded cages. That’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. In a scene, Alamzeb, a soon-to-be tawaif who harbours the dream of becoming a poet someday and is passionately in love with a nawab who also is a revolutionist, says, ‘Mohabbat aur inquilab mein koi fark nahi hota.’ And thus, Sanjay Leela Bhansali through his love of weaving together some beautiful, complicated, grey and enterprising women, explores the many layers of ‘azaadi’.

Azaadi to a nautch girl, who much against her own wishes has to carry on the legacy of Heeramandi, means the same as it does to someone who is crumbling the weight of her own wrongdoings and ambition, who underneath the garb of a courtesan is on a mission to protect her homeland from the delinquency of the British and who feels suffocated under the tapestry of beauty and youth.

Heeramandi explores the various aspects of a woman’s trials and tribulations. Here, each female character is an epitome of every emotion that makes up a woman. Mallikajaan is the matriarch of a brothel named Shahi Mahal. She is ruthless and has the whole of Lahore under control with her beauty and brains. Her daughters – Bibbojaan and Alamzeb – love their mother dearly but have no intention and desire to carry her legacy forward. While Bibbojaan is a true patriot dubbed as a ‘rebel’ by the British, Alamzeb has dreams of leaving Heeramandi behind and start a new chapter with the man of her dreams.

Mallikajaan is also a foster mother to Lajjojaan, an emotionally wrecked woman, who has hit the absolute abyss as a consequence of falling in love with a nobleman, who never accepted her. Mallikajaan shares a strained relationship with her sister Waheedan, who blames her for losing her spark, a quality that tawaifs proudly flaunt. She’s envious of her daughter’s youth and is on a path to regain her respect. Fareedan, on the other hand, poses the biggest threat to Mallikajaan, who worries that the former will raze her to the ground.

As the women try and navigate these messy emotions and relationships with one another, they realise that they have a bigger battle to fight, that of not letting the British take over Heeramandi. Set in the 1940s, the historical drama series looks back at the time when courtesans walked with their heads held high and when noblemen would send their sons to their kothas to learn etiquettes before they step into the real world. These women of Heeramandi were considered to be the queens of Lahore, who like a puppet master, controlled the city.

With Heeramandi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali creates a world that’s exquisite and is rich and vibrant in its culture and texture. Inhabiting this realm are some characters that are as unapologetic, complex and imperfect as a human can be. Here, the women call their own shots and is unafraid of what the civil society might think of them. They’re pitted against each other, sometimes one even wishing for and conspiring against another’s downfall and shattering their self-worth, pride and ego. They can tear apart and even love like tigresses. And when the right time comes, they don’t bat an eyelid before fiercely protecting one another. Despite deep and dark ambition plaguing their hearts, they’ve their conscience clear. Maybe that’s why Fareedan in a scene reprimands a British officer for robbing her aunt Mallikajaan off her ‘aabru’ when all she wanted was for her to have her ‘guroor’ crumbled.

Bhansali pens a near-perfect screenplay and it is this rich writing that already forms an impressive foundation for the show. Each character is written with a lot of courage, empathy and sensitivity. Here, each female character is so well-fleshed out, including those in the periphery, that they all deserve a spin-off of their own.

Bhansali is one of those very few directors who is known to never cast a light of judgment on the ‘other woman’ in a man-woman relationship. Devdas, Bajirao Mastani and Gangubai Kathiawadi are a few instances. In fact, he has always treated them with as many layers and emotionality as the man’s legitimate partner. And Heeramandi boasts of a plethora of these ‘other women’, who never had to hide under the veil of morality to earn reverence despite bowing down to their destiny.

After sharing glimpses of the life of a courtesan and the madam of a brothel through Chandramukhi and Gangu, he lets us delve deep into their worlds with Heeramandi where everyone – despite having one single goal of freedom – has their fair share of unique trials, each one heart-wrenching and catastrophic in their own way. With the series, Bhansali once again puts his fascination of tragic love stories on display, thereby making a commentary on how women on the fringes can never recover from a heartbreak, sometimes offered by a lover and sometimes by their own families. And yet, the auteur, sadistic as it may sound, makes sure that we never look away from the beauty that devastation and agony can bring.

Apart from his masterful storytelling through maximalist aesthetic including the creation of some poetic vignettes where each frame appears to be a stunning piece of oil painting, Bhansali has also earned the affection and admiration of several film connoisseurs for his presentation of elaborate dance sequences. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he has single-handedly kept the tradition of song-and-dance alive in Hindi cinema at a time when realism has been striving to take over. And so, Heeramandi doesn’t disappoint either. Sakal Ban is a gorgeous representation of the beauty and sisterhood that resides in Heeramandi. In fact, each of the woman, has a mujra sequence and all of them are mesmerising pieces.

The background score by the director is like a cherry on the top that elevates the screenplay and the drama quotient in perfect proportions. Long runtimes of each episode doesn’t deter the narrative either. The series is so well-written and crafted with intricate nuances that you’ll remain hooked to it throughout. To top it, most sequences flow like beautiful proses. The only weak link is its rushed climax that fails to properly establish what enthuses and infuses these women with the spirit of patriotism.

As for the men of Heeramandi, Taha Shah Badussha who plays Tajdar Baloch proves his mettle in many scenes, particularly those he shares with Alamzeb. Adhyayan Suman plays a cold-blooded and manipulative nawab named Zoravar. He has limited screen time but impresses in a key confrontation scene with Lajjojaan and Mallikajaan. Shekhar Suman and Fardeen Khan don’t have much meat to chew on.

Coming to the women, Manisha Koirala returns to the screen and essays the unyielding and authoritative Mallikajaan with a lot of finesse and heart. She’s easily the scene-stealer and to watch her revelling in a grey character after playing an array of vulnerable woman is a treat to the eyes. Aditi Rao Hydari once again lets her eyes and silence do all the talking. Her most powerful weapons are her calm demeanour, compassion and a sharp mind and her Bibbojaan has the most interesting character arc.

Sharmin Segal Mehta essays the part of Alamzeb, which again is a multi-layered character. Her agony tugs at the heartstrings and her delicate beauty and not-so-boisterous rebellion make her interesting. She shares some endearing moments with Tajdar and to see her rising from the ashes like a Phoenix and take charge of all the atrocities committed on her fiancé, mother and sister is awe-inspiring.

Richa Chadha as Lajjojaan doesn’t have too many scenes but she makes sure that you can’t take your eyes off her every time she appears in the frame. She’s a tormented woman perpetually yearning for love and in doing so, loses her self-worth and sets out on a path of self-destruction. Her heart break and delusions will make you tear up. It’s equally pitiful watching Sanjeeda Shaikh’s Waheedan, who let down by everyone she had once loved, is now fighting a battle where she fears not being desirable anymore. And through her, Bhansali brings forth an unfortunate facet of how womanhood is tied to vanity.

Sonakshi Sinha plays the antagonist in Heeramandi. She is stunning, shrewd and sardonic. And she fears no one. She single-handedly fights a battle to win justice for her late mother and has no qualms about walking on the path of vices for the same. At the end, the women are all so much more than just tawaifs. Ambition is their eternal companion and they use their beauty as a weapon to lure men into their beds and when the right time comes, render them powerless. Farida Jalal as the loving Qudsia also deserves a special mention.

This ambitious Bhansali creation is delicious. You’ll relish every bit of it till the very end. And much like diamond, Heermandi shines and sparkles and hardly ever loses its sheen.