Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has showered praises on Sanjay Leela Bhansali after binge-watching his debut web series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Shekhar also lauded actor Manisha Koirala’s performance. He added that Netflix is finally giving “Indian filmmakers budgets they deserve”.
Shekhar wrote, “Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s cinematic art is so seductive. He pulls you into his world and mesmerises you. His images stayed with me long after I binge watched the whole of #Heeramandi in one go.. and what an effective performance by Manisha Koirala @mkoirala. Finally #Netflix is giving Indian filmmakers budgets they deserve.”
Reacting to the post, a person wrote, “I found it completely bland and somehow every character is struggling to put up with SLB’s stature…Thanks to aura, background, choice of colours and everything else which makes a SLB movie, THE SLB MOVIE is top-notch in Hiramandi as well…But delivery is disappointing.” A tweet read, “Nothing but superficial gloss! Very poor content!” An X user said, “We need to move beyond glorifying the world of brothels and forced prostitution.”
What Bhansali had said about critical feedback
Recently, talking about receiving audiences’ critical feedback on the show, Bhansali told Indie Wire, “There are things in the characters that connect to people in my work. That is why they talk about it. A lot of people like it, a lot of people don’t like it. It’s a part of a give-and-take with an audience and filmmaker. I don’t mind being loved when they give me love, and I don’t mind quite being criticized when they don’t connect to my work.”
About Heeramandi
Heeramandi stars Sonakshi Sinha, Manisha Koirala, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Adhyayan Suman, Shekhar Suman, Fardeen Khan, Sanjeeda Shaikh and Taha Shah Badussha, amongst others. Heeramandi is set against the backdrop of the Indian freedom struggle of the 1940s. It is an epic saga of love, power, revenge, and freedom. Heeramandi is streaming on Netflix since May 1.
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