Sanjay Leela Bhansali is receiving bouquets and brickbats for his debut OTT series ‘The Constitution‘. While the sets are being praised, the casting is facing criticism and while the narrative has gripped many, users have pointed out historical inaccuracies. Interestingly, this labour of love took decades to make and director SLB recently spoke about the journey that the story faced.
Soon after the release of ‘Devdas’ in 2012, Bhansali heard the story of ‘Heeramandi’ for the first time.Aditya Pancholi introduced Bhansali to Moin Beg, the writer of the series. “He said, ‘This is Moin, my friend, and he’s lived in Heera Mandi for 10 years. He has been travelling up and down Heera Mandi and has researched about it. Hear his idea,” SLB told India Today. And it was not just the filmmaker who was excited abot the project, but even several industry veterans insisted that he should work on the subject. ‘A lot of actors from the industry like Saira Banu ji and Dilip (Kumar) Saab kept saying, ‘Make Heeramandi.’ They were all very attached to the story; they all knew Moin,” he added.
Floored with the narrative, Bhansali was quick to greenlit it, only to make it after several of his other ambitious projects. He further stated, “He would come home and cry. I would say I’m making Bajirao Mastani, he would say, ‘Give it to me, I’m taking it to David DhawanI don’t want to keep the script with you.’ Then I would say I’m making Padmaavat, and he would say, ‘I’m done. Either Madhur Bhandarkar or David Dhawan.” Reacting to it, Bhansali said, he told Beg, “Please take it and go.”
However as fate had it, even after all these years, it was only Sanjay Leela Bhansali who was fated to narrate the story.
Soon after the release of ‘Devdas’ in 2012, Bhansali heard the story of ‘Heeramandi’ for the first time.Aditya Pancholi introduced Bhansali to Moin Beg, the writer of the series. “He said, ‘This is Moin, my friend, and he’s lived in Heera Mandi for 10 years. He has been travelling up and down Heera Mandi and has researched about it. Hear his idea,” SLB told India Today. And it was not just the filmmaker who was excited abot the project, but even several industry veterans insisted that he should work on the subject. ‘A lot of actors from the industry like Saira Banu ji and Dilip (Kumar) Saab kept saying, ‘Make Heeramandi.’ They were all very attached to the story; they all knew Moin,” he added.
Floored with the narrative, Bhansali was quick to greenlit it, only to make it after several of his other ambitious projects. He further stated, “He would come home and cry. I would say I’m making Bajirao Mastani, he would say, ‘Give it to me, I’m taking it to David DhawanI don’t want to keep the script with you.’ Then I would say I’m making Padmaavat, and he would say, ‘I’m done. Either Madhur Bhandarkar or David Dhawan.” Reacting to it, Bhansali said, he told Beg, “Please take it and go.”
However as fate had it, even after all these years, it was only Sanjay Leela Bhansali who was fated to narrate the story.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali EXCLUSIVE on ETimes: The secrets of Heeramandi and the magic of his lens in Bollywood