Reel vs Real: How Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi Falters on Historical Facts

The show surely grips eyes but doesn't paint a truthful picture.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali released his first web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazar, on 1 May on Netflix.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

"Netflix show Heeramandi is set in Lahore but it shows nothing about the culture of Pakistan's Lahore. The history shown is incorrect," Yousuf Salahuddin, a philanthropist and former politician from Lahore, Pakistan told The Quint.

That seems to be the consensus of historians across various social media platforms about Sanjay Leela Bhansali's first web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazar, that released on 1 May on Netflix.

While the show offers its viewers magnificent sets, stunning jewellery, ravishing outfits, historians have pointed out misrepresentation of historical facts and heavy exaggeration of events.

The show sells itself as a story of Lahore's tawaifs or courtesans, living amid the fight for independence from British rule between the 1920s and 1940s.

Show Is Set in 1920-40s Lahore But Is Far From it

The most important underlying point of any show set in the past is that it tries to abide by the history of the place. However, Bhansali and his team of writers took the term 'creative liberty' a lot further than anticipated.

The Havelis and big lanes of Heeramandi, as shown in the series, did not exist.

A still from the trailer of the show.

(Photo: Screenshot/YouTube/Netflix)

Heeramandi, situated in Pakistan's Lahore, is filled with narrow lanes and shops as can be seen in this video below.

Old archival images, as well as present-day images of the Walled City of Lahore, also show a different picture than what was in the show.

Present day state of Noori Manzil, the haveli of a rich dancing girl called Poori Bai.

(Photo: Screenshot/WCLA)

(Photo: Screenshot/WCLA)

(Photo: Screenshot/WCLA)

In the past, the area where courtesans resided and performed in the evenings functioned as a market in the daylight. Today, only the noise from the market's shoe shops fills up the place where once the melody of ghunghroos mingled with the captivating music.

Dr Ruchika Sharma, a historian, points out the inaccuracies shown in one of the episodes where Richa Chadha's character Lajwanti walks into a bar where men and women are drinking alcohol while sitting together, which did not happen in India during the 1920s and 30s.

Photo from 1952, Heera Mandi of Lahore, Pakistan.

(Photograph: Frank Horvat)

"When you are depicting women's issues, especially of a class of women who were so deeply exploited, you have to be extra careful," Sharma said, stressing on how cinema creates a huge impact on its audience.

A scene of a library showing actor Aditi Rao Hydari spots the book, Pir-e-Kamil. However, this book was released in 2004.

Story Based in Lahore But Doesn't Represent It So...

"All this culture shown is Lucknow and Delhi culture, this has nothing to do with the Punjab culture of Lahore," says Yousuf Salahuddin, a philanthropist and former politician from Lahore, Pakistan.

He stresses that the culture, language, attire and etiquette portrayed in the series by courtesans is not from Lahore.

Another point that was widely criticized by the viewers is the strong presence of Urdu language and accent while completely ignoring the fact that Punjabi was the language that was spoken in Lahore.

"Sure, there were Muslim poets from Punjab that would write in Urdu however, this language and accent used in the series isn’t from Lahore. Especially, language from the market was Punjabi," he adds.  

Photo of "prostitutes" from Lahore that dates back to 1946.

(Source: ICP/ LIFE/ Margaret Bourke-White)

Photo from 1952, Heera Mandi of Lahore, Pakistan.

(Photograph: Frank Horvat)

Sharma questions the misrepresentation of Lahore in the series and says that Bhansali has not shown Heera Mandi or Lahore from the 1920s or 30s.

"How can you show Lahore without a Punjabi? Even if they were speaking Hindi - Urdu, they would have a very Punjabi accent to it," she adds.

Songs Were Sung But Not Spared

The very famous and loved song, Sakal Ban, written by Amir Khusrau, an Indo-Persian Sufi singer and poet was also given an Urdu spin in this Netflix show.

Sharma explains how the line in the song 'Nijamuddin ke darwaje par' has a composition in khadi boli, the language of the people, but it has been given a Urdu touch and replaced with 'Nizamuddin ke darwaze par'.

As per Salahuddin, Basant in Lahore is not celebrated like shown in the series in the first episode. "In Lahore, it was all to do with kite flying and never related to just dancing or performances," he adds.

Misinterpretation of 'The Dancing Girls of Lahore'

Bhansali replaced the word 'accuracy' with 'exaggeration' when it came to courtesans - their attire, attitude and status.

Although the courtesans were not a part of the elite society, they surely obtained respect and admiration from them.

A still from the trailer of the show.

(Photo: Screenshot/YouTube/Netflix)

"In old photographs, you can see how narrow the lanes of Heera Mandi are and how these women were living a relatively poor lives. Their lives were not as lavish as Sanjay Leela Bhansali has shown," Sharma says.

This image from 1952 of a courtesan was taken by Horvat in Lahore during a wedding function.

(Photograph: Frank Horvat)

Author Pran Nevile describes a tawaif in his book, Nautch Girls of The Raj (2009) as “not merely a woman of pleasure but an accomplished and a refined person with dance and poetry in her blood.”

Did Tawaifs Really Partake in the Independence Struggle?

A study titled 'Visibilising the 'Other' in History: Courtesans and the Revolt' (2007) by Lata Singh points out that men felt threatened by the independent and educated courtesans thus negating and erasing their role from the nationalist discourse.

Sharma recalls how Begum Samru, a former courtesan later became a warrior and the ruler of Sardhana, a small principality near Meerut in 1778 and Azizan Bai, a courtesan from the Kanpur who later went on to become a warrior in 1857 revolt against the British.

"If you look at history, women are not in the history books. It is highly unlikely that tawaifs would not have been a part of freedom struggle. Women in every other corner of the country were joining the freedom struggle," explains Sharma.

On the other hand, Salahuddin stresses that it is not true that the courtesans participated in the freedom struggle.

"My family has lived here for over 150 years and we were involved in the struggle for independence, we are aware of the history, there was no mention of tawaifs’ involvement in the freedom struggle," he asserts.

Did it Promote Feminism or Anti-Feminism?

Dominant, commanding and authoritative are some of the words to describe Mallikajaan's role, played by actor Manisha Koirala in the series. She does not come off as a loving mother, caring sister or a kind leader.

"You don't have to show strong feminine characters the way masculine characters are shown, you can show strong feminine characters by showing how much struggle she has come up from," asserts Sharma.

Sharma also points out that so many tawaifs would have facial and body hair in real life in the 1920s and 30s but this wasn't shown in the series. Bhansali also missed the wide opportunity to explore more with the LGBTQIA+ community representation but he stuck to a very stereotypical role.

A still from the trailer of the show.

(Photo: Screenshot/YouTube/Netflix)

"Bhansali has completely removed Heera Mandi from history and he has made his own Heera Mandi from his head - which is fair if you are tagging it as a fiction but don't do this and call it a historical show. Then you are just doing injustice to the history," Sharma adds.

Creators and Actors Respond to Criticism

In an interview, actor Sonakshi Sinha responds to the criticism about the inaccurate historical portrayal of the show. The actor clarifies that Heeramandi was never intended to be a 'history lesson' but for entertainment.

"Yes, Heera Mandi is a place that exists in Lahore, but we never told you we were delving into history. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an artist; he has created a world for you. It’s a fictionalised version of what was and view it as just entertainment," Sinha told the ETimes.

(With inputs from Abhilash Mallick and Khushi Mehrotra.)