The series is set in Lahore, and tells the stories of the courtesans of Heeramandi.
Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is known for films like Devdas and Bajirao Mastani, has collaborated with Netflix for his pre-Independence set series titled Heeramandi.
Described as a passion project from the director, who just completed 25 years in show business, the series will explore stories of courtesans and the hidden cultural reality of the Heeramandi district, during pre-Independent India.
Heera Mandi is known as the red light area of Lahore. It is located inside the Walled City of Lahore. It has been the centre of the city’s tawaif culture since the 15th and 16th centuries.
In a statement, Sanjay Leela Bhansali said: “Heeramandi is an important milestone in my journey as a filmmaker. It is an ambitious, grand and all-encompassing series; therefore I am nervous yet excited about making it. I am looking forward to my partnership with Netflix and bringing Heeramandi to audiences all over the world. It’s a very difficult one, I like to take a little time and the scale is big. I live with a subject for a long time, then I build and build and I keep thinking of it… So it’s a lot of time I give to a particular idea, but it’s great fun. That’s how it finally emerges. So now I think I’m ready to make Heeramandi.”
Bhansali, 58, made his directorial debut with the 1996 movie Khamoshi: The Musical.
Monika Shergill, VP of Content, Netflix India: “Sanjay Leela Bhansali has created a stunning brand of cinema which is uniquely his own, with emotionally charged storytelling, magnificent sets and unforgettable characters. We congratulate him on completing 25 phenomenal years and giving masterpieces for generations to cherish. We are beyond excited to bring his extraordinary creative vision to storytelling on Netflix. Heeramandi will be a story that will intrigue audiences and transport them into a world of incredible grandeur, beauty and harshness at the same time.”
It’s a series about love, betrayal, succession and politics in the kothas which promises Bhansali’s trademark larger-than-life sets, multi-faceted characters and soulful compositions. This piece-de-resistance will be created by the master filmmaker with an eye for detail and intense intricacies only he is capable of, Netflix said in a statement.
Bhansali’s next movie is the biographical crime drama Gangubai Kathiawadi, starring Alia Bhatt in the lead role.
