Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who recently announced his first web series Heeramandi, revealed that it was conceived 14 years ago, when speaking about the show in a featurette on Netflix India’s Tudum event on Saturday.
“Heeramandi was something that my friend Moin Baig got to me as a 14-page story, 14 years ago. When we finally presented it to Netflix, they loved it and thought it had great potential to make a mega-series,” Bhansali said.
“It is very ambitious; it’s very big and vast. It tells you the story of courtesans. They had music, poetry and dance, and the art of living. It shows the politics within the brothels. It is a difficult one, but I hope we come across with flying colours this time,” he added.
While no official announcement has been made about the cast of the series, it is known that Heeramandi will explore stories of courtesans and the hidden cultural reality of Heeramandi, a dazzling district in pre-Independence India. “It’s a series about love, betrayal, succession, and politics in the kothas which promises Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s trademark larger-than-life sets, multi-faceted characters, and soulful compositions,” a press release from Netflix had earlier stated.
The director, who made his debut with Khamoshi: The Musical in 1996, celebrated his 25th anniversary in the industry this year.
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Recollecting his first experience on a film set, Bhansali said, “I remember when I was a four-year-old kid and my father had taken me to a shoot. He said, ‘You sit here and I’ll meet my friends and come’. I was in the studio and it seemed the most comfortable to me. More than a school, a playground, a cousin’s house, or anywhere in the world. I thought it was the most beautiful place. When I look back at the last 25 years, it’s very precious to me because you have to be blessed to be able to get a chance to make a film. That’s why I cling on to the studio because the studio floor is the most magical. That’s my temple; that’s my everything.”
Bhansali is known for his larger-than-life films such as Devdas, Padmaavat, Bajirao Mastani, Guzaarish, Ram Leela, and Black.
Apart from Heeramandi, the filmmaker also has a couple of other upcoming projects, namely Alia Bhatt-starrer Gangubai Kathiawadi, which has completed shooting, and Baiju Bawra, which was announced in 2019 but is yet to go on floors.