With streaming platforms, social media and the continued globalisation of the entertainment industry, the popularity of non-English language television and film is on the rise. One must only look at the success of South Korean productions Parasite and Squid Game, or Telugu film RRR’s Oscars win, to know that language is longer a huge barrier in foreign language content transcending borders.
Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is one of Netflix’s latest offerings from India, with the streamer heavily promoting it as a must-see global watch. Not only is it acclaimed Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first TV series, but it’s a monumental show for female representation in Hindi television.
Set in pre-independent India, the eight-part series follows the lives of courtesans (also known as tawaifs), as they navigate freedom, love and power when the odds are often against them. Not only does the show have a predominantly female-led cast, but it strives to depict women as multi-faceted, empowered individuals – something that attracted stars Sonakshi Sinha and Aditi Rao Hydari to the project.
There’s often a narrative in many workplaces that women can’t work together. That they constantly pit themselves against one another, each clawing their own way to the top. It’s often suggested in the entertainment industry, whether that be in tabloids or social media threads. But Aditi and Sonakshi are adamant to quash this idea.
“I want to break this narrative of women being on set together and fighting – it's really not true,” Aditi tells Missing Perspectives. “We are human beings first. We want to love and we want to be loved. We want togetherness, we want to belong, and we want to help each other and we want to see each other shine.”
Aditi Rao Hydari in Heermandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Photo: Netflix
The main cast of Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar boasts an exceptionally talented lineup of women including Manisha Koirala as Mallikajaan, Sonakshi Sinha as Fareedan, Richa Chadha as Lajjo, Aditi Rao Hydari as Bibbojaan, Sanjeeda Shaikh as Waheeda, and Sharmin Segal as Alamzeb.
Sonakshi wholeheartedly agrees with Aditi, highlighting it was not only “wonderful” to work with her female Heeramandi co-stars, but that women-led productions are often a greater success.
“Everyone's been really really nice and wonderful to work with,” she says. “In fact, I feel it's easier to get women to do something like this and get them together on a scale like this. You will never be able to see a film with five male lead actors coming together without leaving their egos and insecurities aside,” she laughs.
Sonakshi also spoke of women’s ability to be very versatile in terms of acting roles. “Women find it easier to do more stuff than the leading male actors,” she explains. “For example, we've done so many characters which are smaller and which have less screen time in films led by male artists, but you never see a male star come and do a small role in a film led by a female cast. So women – they have their sh*t together.”
Aditi adds to this, recalling her own experiences working on movies where roles have been moved around due to different gender dynamics at play.
“I’ve been in films where from a two-boy, one-girl part, it’s been turned around to a two-girl, one-boy [part] because no two guys will agree,” she says.
Sonakshi Sinha in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Photo: Netflix
Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for creating female-led works over the years, with popular Bollywood films Devdas and Gangubai Kathiawadi being some of the most notable in his resume. Both actors have nothing but praise for Bhansali, in how he’s developed complex and powerful female characters, and also the way he’s used music, costumes and extravagant sets to draw audiences in.
“I’ve seen it now, thanks to Sanjay Sir, that there are different kinds of strengths,” says Aditi. “There is a different kind of fearlessness, there are different kinds of power. It’s not that one tone that people stereotypically think of power.
“There are many times when my vulnerability is my greatest strength. My belief is my greatest strength,” she continues, before referring back to Bhansali’s development of her determined character, Bibbojaan. “He has literally created that. He’s created this creature who stands for both – fire and grace.”
Ultimately, Sonakshi hopes that international audiences are “supremely entertained” by the show. “This is India's first global offering on such a huge level. We want them to be visually stunned… and extremely entertained. It's a bit of a history lesson in bits and pieces… we want to bring our culture to them.”
Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is now streaming on Netflix.