- Ushna Shah continues to lament why ‘Heeramandi’ is not India’s story to tell
- The actor asserted that the Sanjay Leela Bhansali series should have been made in Pakistan
- Actor Ushna Shah is not happy with Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming project on Heeramandi.
Heeramandi’ was something that my friend Moin Baig got to me 14 years ago. And then finally, when we presented it to Netflix and they loved it. They thought it had a great potential to make a mega-series. It’s very ambitious. It’s very big. It’s very vast. You have the story of the courtesans pre-independence. They kept music and poetry and dance and the art of living the politics within the kothas and how to emerge as the winner. It is a difficult one but I hope we come across with flying colours this time”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
In a continuation of her tweets against Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming Netflix series Heeramnadi, based on the locality in Lahore, Ushna Shah took to Twitter to elaborate on how, according to the actor, it is an appropriation of Pakistani culture.
Ushnah Shah on Twitter
Turning to her Twitter on Thursday, the Bashar Momin star, who has been quite vocal on the subject, went on to explain why the series on Lahore courtesans should be made by Pakistani filmmakers.
“Not a single Netflix original has been made by Pakistan. Heera-Mandi was what is present day inner city Lahore. Like I said, India has a plethora of rich culture & history to film. Today, Mughal history mostly falls into Pakistan’s domain, language/some geography. We needed this,” lamented Ushna.
In a follow-up Tweet, the actor stressed why this could have been an important project for Pakistan.
“Also.. it isn’t about permission. Banaanay koh toh they can make anything. Of course it was all India once. But if the little history that leans towards Pakistani culture/language/city is also commissioned to India to make what historical film will Pakistan make?” she raised her concerns.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali on his dream project Heeramandi
Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has partnered with Netflix to make his digital debut with his ambitious project titled Heeramandi. The web series explores the stories of courtesans during pre-independent India.
Recently, Bhansali has opened about the ideation behind his ‘ambitious project’ Heeramandi in a featurette on Netflix’s India Tudum Spotlight. The director said the series is very vast and includes an eclectic star cast. The project was initiated by his friend Moin Baig that explores love, betrayal, succession, and politics in the kothas.
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