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‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’: Inside Netflix’s Big-Budget Gambit to Woo Indian Audiences
Netflix's 'Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar' marks the culmination of a two-decade journey for celebrated Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
In his informal five-minute meeting with CEO Ted Sarandos, Bhansali pitched an idea — it would be an opulent tale of warring courtesans set amid India’s struggle for independence. At the show’s center are Mallikajaan ( Manisha Koirala), the scheming queen of Heeramandi, and her vindictive niece Fareedan (Sonakshi Sinha), who has ambitions to take her aunt’s place. At the time, Bhansali — known for his operatic filmmaking style — was coming off “Devdas,” a period romance based on an Indian literary classic, which premiered at Cannes in 2002 and earned a BAFTA nomination.
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