Review: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi

As a student of Hindustani classical music and someone fascinated by courtesan culture, I eagerly anticipated Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new miniseries Heeramandi (available to stream on Netflix starting May 1). Bhansali is known for directing opulent costume dramas such as Devdas (2002), Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Padmaavat (2018). In the tradition of these earlier films, Heeramandi boasts an all-star cast led by Manisha Koriala and Sonakshi Sinha. The costumes and production design are also noteworthy.

Set in Lahore in the twilight years of the British Raj, the series focuses on the lives of the tawaifs who live in the Heera Mandi neighborhood of the city.  Also known as Shahi Mohalla (Royal Neighborhood), this area is located south of the Lahore Fort and was originally a residential neighborhood for attendants and servants of the royal court.  It became particularly associated with the tawaifs, who received patronage from the nobility.

In today’s Pakistan the word “tawaif” has come to be associated with prostitution. However, the word originally denoted elite courtesans who were highly-skilled singers and dancers trained in the arts of poetry and conversation. Aristocrats would send their sons to tawaifs to be trained in manners and etiquette. These women were often wealthy and, because of their unmarried status, were able to move around freely.  They were particularly known for their renditions of thumris–a semi-classical genre of Hindustani music associated primarily with the emotional expression of romantic longing. However, their status was degraded with the advent of British colonialism because the British regarded them as “nautch girls” or prostitutes.  The new Indian middle-class also came under the influence of Victorian morality and began to perceive their own musical traditions as decadent and immoral. This led to the Anti-Nautch Movement and to efforts by reformers such as Pandit Bhatkhande to cleanse Hindustani music of its disreputable associations.

Bhansali depicts the last swansong of this culture.  Most of the male characters in the series are Nawabs (wealthy aristocrats), the main patrons of the tawaifs. These nawabs were largely allied with the British, since they feared losing power under a democratic dispensation.  Most of the nawabs depicted in the series have mistresses in Hira Mandi and have fathered the tawaif’s offspring.  The notable exception is Tajdar (Taha Shah Badussha), who has just graduated from Oxford and is about to become a lawyer in Bombay. When his grandmother suggests he go to Hira Mandi to learn etiquette, he displays the contemptuous attitude of the new Westernized classes.  However, he later ends up falling in love with Alamzeb (Sharmin Segal) the daughter of the leading tawaif Mallikajaan.  Alamzeb is desperate to avoid the fate of becoming a tawaif. She has dreams of  writing poetry and her romance with Tajdar gives her hope of becoming a respectable man’s wife instead of a courtesan.

A second major strand of the plot is the growing Indian nationalist movement.  Tajdar becomes involved with the nationalists as does Alamzeb’s elder sister Bibbojaan (Aditi Rao Hydari).  Tajdar’s involvement with the rebels also leads him into conflict with his father, who believes that British rule is the guarantee of the nawabs’ continued affluence.  This plot strand allows Bhansali to depict the involvement of the tawaifs in the national struggle–an often under-appreciated part of Indian history.  Bibojaan becomes the mistress of the superintendent of police, solely to spy on the British for the nationalists.  Some have criticized Bhansali for setting a series in 1940s Lahore without having a single character who belongs to the Muslim League or espouses the cause of Pakistan.  While this is ahistorical, Bhansali’s aim was not to provide political nuance. The British are clearly the antagonists and the struggle is a vague one for independence (azaadi) without precisely defining what azaadi would entail.

It is perhaps inevitable that a period drama by Sanjay Leela Bhansali becomes over melodramatic at times. Many of the episodes are dominated by internecine conflicts among the tawaifs, complete with scheming and catfights.  It is only in the second half of the series that the struggle against the British comes into the forefront.  However, despite this criticism, Heeramandi is a must watch for those who are interested in Hindustani music and who are fans of courtesan films such as Pakeezah and Umrao Jaan.   The music and dance sequences deserve particular appreciation.

I will end this post with one such musical sequence.  This is “Sakal Ban” (a famous composition in Raga Bahar attributed to Hazrat Amir Khusrao)