The Ballad of Bhansali

An opulent, expensive passion project, or Sanjay Leela Bhansali's gift to the world? Viewers can't wait to find out as Heeramandi, his paean to six courtesans in the Lahore of pre-Independence days, drops on Netflix

- SUHANI SINGH

At the launch of the trailer for Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, which Netflix has billed as "India's biggest cinematic series", the international streaming giant pulled out all the stops to promote one of 2024's most anticipated shows-and also Netflix India's most expensive outing till date (made at a rumoured budget of Rs 200 crore)-giving a sneak peek into the world its creator Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) has conjured. The event, held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi in early April, saw the main conference hall at the hotel being converted into a bazaar, with stalls offering gajras (garlands made of mogra flowers) and attar (perfume). In one corner, two women dressed in rani pink (hot pink) ensembles helped attendees pick Urdu poetry to send to a lover or a dear friend; another corner had an exhibit displaying the embellished costumes designers Rimple and Harpreet Narula have created for the show's six leading ladies. Bhansali himself was missing, but the rich cast-Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Shekhar Suman and Fardeen Khan among them-along with Netflix India VP Monika Shergill and Bhansali Productions CEO Prerna Singh, waxed eloquent about him enough to remind everyone that the court belonged to one man and one man alone.

Four years in the making, the eight-episode series about the life of six courtesans in the backdrop of India's freedom struggle dropped on the OTT platform on May 1. With all the synchronised classical dances and angst and broken hearts in the story, Bhansali has called it his tribute to Kamal Amrohi's Pakeezah, Mehboob Khan's Mother India and K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam. As Bollywood biggies avoid cinemas in May owing to the ongoing Lok Sabha election, Heeramandi has become the de facto biggest release of the month.