Heeramandi The Diamond Bazaar: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's debut series ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’ was released to great reception from viewers and mixed reviews from critics. Though generally not for the right reasons, the new series has internet users talking. Recently, a few netizens claimed historical inaccuracies in Bhansali’s period drama.
Internet users points out historical inaccuracies in Heeramandi series
‘Heeramandi’ is set against the backdrop of the Indian freedom struggle of the 1940s. However, some internet users pointed out that the Lahore locality from the pre-Independence era showcased in the series has multiple wrong elements.
Hamd Nawaz, a young Lahore-based doctor, took to X (formerly Twitter), shared how Bhansali's series is drastically different from the Heeramandi locality she's knows about as a Pakistan resident.
She wrote, “Just watched Heeramandi. Found everything but heermandi in it. I mean, either you don’t set your story in 1940’s Lahore, or if you do- you don’t set it in Agra’s landscape, Delhi’s Urdu, Lakhnavi dresses and 1840’s vibe. My not-so-sorry Lahori self can’t really let it go.”
“Heeramandi spans from Taxali Gate to modern-day Phajay kay Paye or Cheet Ram Road. Walk it all- you won’t find a single such courtyard, let alone something this big. Those were multi-storey 5/10 Marla Kothas/Makans at max. The social/financial strata it shows never even existed,” she added.
The user aslo claimed that Lahore residents in the 1940s did not converse in Urdu but in Punjabi unlike what is shown in the series. She mentioned that Amir Khusrow's Sakal Ban wasn't the song to be crooned in that period.
“Sakal Ban wasn’t the Lahori thing to sing, chaiti bowdi vay tabiba was. It was 1940s, Noor Jahan’s Punjabi Masterpieces were there - the cinema had platformed many singers from Heeramandi, and none of them sounded like whatever Sufiana custard we’re seeing here,” she tweeted.
Speaking of the costumes worn by the cast of ‘Heeramandi’, Hamd argued that the tawaifs of that era in Lahore never wore the couture attires Bhansali picked.
She wrote, “Bhansali’s search should’ve definitely gone beyond Bridal Couture walks. The courtesan never had the financial security to even remotely afford these jewels. What are these blouses? Saris? Ghagras? Lehngas? Some Punjabi dress maybe? Na, let’s go Sabyasachi on them.”
“It was not a street of glamour, but of exploitation, slavery and filthy poverty. And those who lived there, at least deserve to be seen as they were,” she wrote, concluding, “I rant as I’ve seen that area, interacted with people around there, spent my clinical rotations in hospitals there and I think its story definitely needs to be told, but only after someone actually comes and visits the area he is bringing to life,” she added.
Here's other mistakes in Bhansali's Heeramandi
Some other netizens also mention other timeline inaccuracies, such as pointing out Umera Ahmed's popular 2004 novel Peer-e-Kamil on a bookshelf in a scene and Sonakshi Sinha's character Fareedan reading an Urdu newspaper with the year 2022.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Heermandi' stars an ensemble cast, including Manisha Koirala, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal and Taha Shah Badussha. The series released on Netflix on May 1.