By Asia Samachar | Movie Review |
‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’ is a well-produced drama, coming across as a work of art that captures the scenes of the time.
Spanning 1920 through 1947, the lavish story is set in the Heeramandi district of Lahore, British India, the milieu of the tawaifs. As with the geisha of Japan, tawaifs were trained in music and dance and courted by nobility. 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.
The show is an entanglement of plot lines – a murder investigation, a war of succession, a budding love story and a courtesan’s secret involvement in a rebellion against British rule, as captured in The Conversation. Eventually, all characters and storylines converge around the central theme of anti-colonial nationalism. Driven by nationalist fervour, the courtesans call themselves “patriots” and willingly sacrifice their careers and lives for the country.
The scripting is good while the storyline enjoyable. In a nutshell, it is a story about freedom – freedom of choice, freedom and the right to live, sacrifice and love.
A tawaif was a highly successful courtesan, dancing girl or female entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. Many tawaifs (nautch girls to the British) were forced to go into prostitution due to a lack of opportunities by the time of the British Raj.
The core ensemble of the Netflix series is entirely female. Aside from the relentless Mallikajaan and the ferocious Fareedan, you also have the resilient Bibbo (Aditi Rao Hydari), wide-eyed Alamzeb (Sharmin Segal), tragic Lajjo (Richa Chaddha), and underestimated Waheeda (Sanjeeda Sheikh).
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