New Delhi: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Heeramandi' is still trending on Netflix after a month of release. In a recent interaction, Bhansali spoke about his casting process, Sharmin Segal, reuniting with Manisha Koirala and more. Bhansali opened up about casting his niece Sharmin Segal and said that despite being related to him, she had to go through the entire grind of the process of auditions and workshops.
Talking about the organic process of casting his actors in films, Bhansali shed light on how he casts actors as per their strengths, the importance of his casting director Shruti and more.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali on casting Sharmin Segal in Heeramandi
Talking about Sharmin's casting, Bhansali said, "She has a face of what Alamzeb should be - somebody who doesn't want to be a tawaif or has no makings of it. You needed somebody with very fresh, innocent quality to her, somebody who doesn't talk like a tawaif. And that person wants to break free with some pursuit of wanting to write poetry. So, I felt that Sharmin was the correct choice for Alamzeb."
“I didn’t cast her because she's my niece. She had to go through the grind. There were innumerable number of tests and auditions. There was no end to the number of tests I've done with her. After I've decided to cast her, then I said you have to go through the grind, you have to get it right. Because this is a world, you've never been to. You've never acted in a world like that. All these other actors on the show have worked over the period of time in a film like this or a character like this. They have understood all these nazakat and thumka and nakhra and all that," Bhansali added about the grilling process her neice and actor Sharmin had to go through.
Sharmin Segal as Alamzeb in Heeramandi
Sharmin Segal plays a pivotal role in the Netflix series ‘Heeramandi’. She essayed the role of Mallikajaan’s ( Manisha Koirala) daughter. In the series, Segal wishes to step outside the fate of courtesans and become a poet.
However, her performance did not go down well with the audiences. She was bitterly tolled on social media platforms wherein many called her ‘robot-like’, ‘stoic’ and ‘expressionless’ in the series.