Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Writers: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (based on original story by Moin Beg)
Cast: Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Farida Jalal, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Taha Shah, Jason Shah, Shekhar Suman, Fardeen Khan, Indresh Malik
Number of episodes: 8
Available on: Netflix
Minutes into the first episode of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut streaming series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, we get two beautiful scenes. From a vantage point that presents a panoramic view of this bustling neighbourhood of courtesans in pre-Independence Lahore, we’re shown a horse-drawn carriage making its way out of Heeramandi at dusk. Seated on the little ledge at the back of the carriage is a smiling young woman. She’s dressed in white, which makes her gleam like a beacon of unblemished purity while all around her mills a faceless crowd dressed in shades of black, indigo and greyish blue. Lamps and candles dot the scene, pinpricking the cool palette with their warmth.
Sometime later, this same carriage will return and the woman in white will be on that same seat. She’ll still be gleaming like a pearl, but this time, we see Heeramandi not in the bleak monochrome of before, when we saw it from the perspective of an insider, but from outside in. We see Heeramandi through a visitor’s eyes. The muted tones of the palatial buildings now have the glint of jewel-bright accents and darkness is filligreed with light and colour. Music breezes through the neighbourhood and the street-facing windows offer tantalising glimpses of opulent interiors and dancing women.
Here in the beautiful production design is the grandeur and majesty for which Bhansali is famous. Here is also the sophisticated cinematography that is able to turn an elaborate set into an intricate miniature that doesn’t feel awkwardly cramped when it’s made to fit the dimensions of the small screen. Nestled in these two shots is worldbuilding that establishes Heeramandi as a figment of Bhansali’s maximalist imagination, rather than as a place constrained by details like fact, logic and history. Look closely and you’ll find these details that convey both what the young woman stands for in the story of Heeramandi as well as the ambivalence with which the show imagines its courtesans.
Unfortunately, in between these two shots (as well as before and after them) are scenes that want to be romantic but teeter towards cringe. Like when the same young woman gets up in the middle of the night, picks up a lamp, and walks into a pool — not to drown herself or cool down, but to look for a single, lost pearl (wouldn’t this have been easier to do during the day?), stepping in deeper and deeper, candle in hand (since she doesn’t have someone taking photos of the pretty play of light, is she hoping the candle will illuminate the pool floor?) until the candle in the lamp is submerged and the light goes out (because, well, physics). Reader, you’ll be happy to know she finds the pearl, which her mother swallows like a bitter pill after offering the young woman a pearl of wisdom in exchange for the real one. Does it make sense? Not really, but look at the opportunity for wordplay! Irshad!