The eight episodes of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi which will start streaming sometime in April-May 2024, have turned out so well that Netflix has decided to stream one episode per week
“The beauty and artistry of every episode is a selfcontained movie experience.They want the audience to experience the nuances of every episode one at a time,” informs a source.
The first look of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi does exactly what it is intended to: it opens up a feast of visual opulence punctuated by an immaculate background score although the spectacular show goes on for a just a bit more than a minute.
It seems like a lot more. Bhansali packs in so much in that minute. There is laughter and gun shots(sometimes together), the rustle of swirling ghagras and rustling duppattas. There are lots of gorgeous women: gorgeous not necessarily because God made them that way, but because Bhansali, the celluloid God wills them to be so.
I counted Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Rao Hydari, Manisha Koirala, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Saigal, Richa Chadha(her sartorial definition is way out of league from the typical classical courtesan)……
Each one is costumed distinctly. The clothes most definitely maketh these women. Their styling is the key to their character portrait.They are what they wear, and never mind the tear.
Bhansali’s style is imprinted on every frame.Earlier he was supposed to direct only one episode(the first). But now it is Bhansali all the way. The costumes,the haveli, the adaas and nazzaakat , all reek of a deep dunk into the most fragrant ponds of nostalgia.
It is reliably learnt that Netflix plans to release one episode at a time whenever the streaming starts(in April or May).
I agree with this decision. Heeramandi is not a series for binge watching. It is a rare precious treat for the eyes and the soul, to be ingested sparingly.
Every episode is like an independent Sanjay Leela Bhansali film. The sprawling plot coheres in its entirety in a magical merger of mythology and erotica.
Why, you may wonder, are the courtesans(don’t you dare call them whores!) so happy with their lives even when they have no reason to be? These resplendent ladies do not belong to the world of Pakeezah or Umrao Jaan. They are something else. They are so feisty they redefine the boundaries of seductive harmony .