Sanjay Leela Bhansali is in lime light for his recently released web series on OTT platform Netflix “Heera Mandi The Diamond Bazaar”. It was one of the much awaited web series of the year. Where people are giving him a lot of love for his work, on the other hand some people are criticizing him for glorifying the life of courtesans. And for this he is facing a lot of criticism and he is trying to defend his web series “Heera Mandi The Diamond Bazaar” from criticism for glorifying the life of courtesans.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s statement on interview with Bollywood Hungama
Recently Sanjay Leela Bhansali given statement in his interview when he was asked about what fascinates him about such story from where he get the concept and what fascinates him about these women then he replied “ these Womens are number one beautiful women, these women’s are very very sophisticated and trained in etiquettes, and they knew the art of living in terms of poetry, they knew tradition, they knew classical dancing and classical music. But they also had the stories of suffering of going through a lot of turmoil and that was the fun of showing them all dressed in those diamonds and rich sils only to the eyes saying something else.
They had their own inner politics that had to fight as much to survive as a middle class woman. A woman or a man has to survive and they go through their own struggles. I have not only shown the glamorous part. There is a lot of inner suffering of every closeup of every move of why he is reacting like.
I have shown What she went through or what she wants to achieve. As a mother she gives a supreme sacrifice of getting the kit out of. So these were all turmoil stories that we created from some real characters. My work is not supposed to be rooted in reality. In a documentary on Heera Mandi it’s an impression of Lahore, it’s the impression of Heera Mandi, it is the impression of courtesans and living that life.
I cannot understand how it can be realistic because I have not lived in that era. I have not seen that world. I cannot document it as clearly because today Heera Mandi is different from Heera Mandi in the 30s and 20s.
So when you are creating a work of fiction it is just to create an experience for you to say what may be those women want to and that is the joy of the kind of film making that I made. I like to create an atmosphere and impression on the mind of the audience or what I perceive that moment to be.
These women fought for freedom. They were all trapped. Gangubai was trapped. Mastani was trapped and women who are used for their beauty and for their bodies and have to survive because of that are women who want to escape that lack of dignity and lack of means is the first punishment granted to a human being because dignity is every human being’s right. Every women should be granted a dignity which is what Gangubai said”
