Just three days into the release of ‘Heeramandi’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s highly anticipated OTT debut, the show has left the netizens divided. While most are either disappointed or dazzled, a special breed of (mostly) Pakistani viewers are simply annoyed.
An Indian filmmaker, attempting to portray Lahori courtesans, had raised eyebrows since the series was announced. Lo and behold, now the same eyebrows are flooding twitter (sorry X) with clips of ‘Bol’, Shoib Mansoor’s blockbuster 2011 film. They specifically want to draw attention to the character of a ‘prostitute’ named Sabina, played with much grace by Iman Ali.
Sabina or Meena, effortlessly switched from chaste Urdu to Punjabi in a scene, revealing her origins. While in ‘Heeramandi’, the leading cast of tawaifs (struggle) to speak basic Urdu, many have pointed out that the tawaifs should have spoken some Punjabi to lend authenticity to the role, that now looks like a Bollywoodized version of a Lahori kotha in 1945, a mistake Pakistani artists could have easily avoided had they been involved in the making of ‘Heeramandi’.
What are your thoughts?
