Heeramandi Review - Sanjay Leela Bhansali Spreads His Magic In Long Format Narrative

Heeramandi Review: Master filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ambitious Heeramandi has been making headlines since Pandemic and finally got released today, May 1, 2024. It's been 4 years or maybe more since SLB has been trying to make it happen, and finally it's here to give us the big-screen feel on the OTT platform.It's still a pleasure to see someone bringing such a large spectacle to a small screen in India because we have only heard of Americans doing so in Hollywood. Heeramandi has been blessed with SLB's usual grand sets, some amazing performances, dialogues, and enough masala, but more than that, it's a story that drives you into a fascinating world, never to leave you out for a moment in this 7-hour trip.We have seen the likes of Pakeezah (1972) and Mirza Ghalib (1954) and have been missing that kind of athleisure touch in today's time. SLB makes sure that the old magic is reformed again in a new style with his magnum opus, Heeramandi.

Set in the pre-independence era, Heeramandi tells the story of a place called Heeramandi—a famous place ruled by courtesans. Mallikajaan (Manisha Koirala) is the queen of the area and invites all the rich nawabs to enjoy courtesan's singing and dancing performances at Shahi Mahal. She has a terrible past, a murder, which puts her up against Fareedan (Sonakshi Sinha), whose mother was killed by Mallika.Bibbojaan (Aditi Rao Hydari) is the most popular performer in Mallika's Heeramandi, who also works as a secret revolutionist against British rule. Lajjo (Richa Chadha) is betrayed by Zoravar (Adhyayan Suman), while Waheeba (Sanjeeda Sheikh) wants the mansion from her sister, Mallika. Tajdar (Taha Shah Badussha), a son of a rich nawab family, returns from Oxford and falls in love with Alamzeb (Sharmin Segal), Mallika's daughter. Tajdar also joins the Indian revolutionists and must choose between love and nation when Fareedan is busy playing her tricks to destroy Mallikajaan, which also involves Tajdar and Alam's love story. All these characters are linked to each other in one way or another, and we see a fair compilation of drama, suspense, love, emotions, betrayal, and revenge.Heeramandi has a total of 8 episodes, counting for around 7 and a half hours (excluding end credits). It takes longer than the standard runtime of other series, but it never bores you in any way. The concern of the Indian revolution during the freedom fight is mixed well in the story of Heeramandi, a place not suitable for this fight but eventually makes perfect use of it.Manisha Koirala has just shown the world what a late-age comeback means. Her attitude, body language, and that voice tone prove her own saying, "Mallikajaan tawaif KAAMAL ki thi." What a lady, and what a stunning performance with some exquisite looks. Nobody would have expected this earlier, but Sharmin Segal has the second-most screen space after Manisha Koirala. Segal's character is dumbly written, but her performance overcomes that fault. A wannabe poetess turns into a traitor for the British and then an impregnant woman with a tragedy. There were so many layers and so many shades, and she handled it so beautifully.Sonakshi Sinha appears late but does a fine job in this unstable character full of grey shades. Aditi Rao Hydari is the cutest one, while Richa Chadha was seen mostly drunk in her cameo appearance. Taha Shah Badussha has had the best presentation of his career so far, and he was impressive. Adhayayan Suman and Shekhar Suman keep appearing for a few moments after certain intervals in fairly written and fairly performed roles. Indresh Malik, Jason Shah, Shruti Sharma, Vaishnavi Ganatra, Farida Jalal, Nasirr Khan, Pratibha Ranta, and others were decent in the supporting roles.

Heeramandi is indeed another visual spectacle from Bhansali. Adding to the positives, the web series has fine cinematography, good music, and some fantastic dialogue. The choreography and art designs for the songs are eye-pleasing.Sanjay Leela Bhansali does it again, and he does it in his own style, breaking myths of low scale for OTT projects. Heeramandi is too grand and too beautiful for a small-screen experience, and that's why it can be called a pathbreaking series in the OTT world. This kind of scale, execution, and direction have never been seen before in the OTT project to date. But who else could have possibly done it? We have no other name but SLB! Don't miss this epic saga of love, revenge, freedom fights, and a slight touch of intoxicatingly aggressive feminism.