Heeramandi Review — Sucharita Tyagi
Heeramandi too much bhi hai aur too little bhi, khoobsurat bhi hai aur frustrating bhi. Awe inspiring bhi hai aur kuch moments mein awful bhi.
8 episodes mein vibhajit yeh series set hai mostly Indian independence aur vibhajan se kuch saal pehle ke Lahore mein. Tawaif culture Heeramandi ke mohallon mein kuch auraton ne barkaraar rakha hai, halaanki dheere dheere nawab bhi haath kheench rahe hain aur angrez bhi power aur wealth lootne ke chakkar mein aage badhte nazar aa rahe hain.
Manisha Koirala is Mallika Jaan, jinka presumably Heeramandi mein sabse aalishaan kotha hai. She lives with her 2 daughters, a younger sister and her daughter, and a sort of adopted daughter keeps coming and going. Sab chal raha hai sahi, until A her younger daughter refuses to continue in the tawaif tradition and B her missing niece comes back to claim what is rightfully hers.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s art isn’t overtly political, one might argue he makes art for art’s sake. Along with Moin Beg jinhe story credit mila hai, saath mein Vibhu Puri, Bhansali ki Heeramandi ki khoobsurati ki tareefein sunenge kyunki dekh kar wahee sabse pehla aspect aata hai dimaag mein. Sonakshi Sinha ne mere interview mein bataya bhi ki kaise na sirf actor par set par lage har lamp par nazar rehti hain Bhansali ki, tas se mas nahi hota kuch. So yes, the visual offering is par excellence. The desire to take an audience to empathetic place using beauty as a cruel facade is evident in the sets, the music, Rimple and Harpreet’s exquisite costumes, all the classical art forms at display.
However, the show is consumed by its own vastness. Magnum opus ban kar tikega tab jab neev mazboot ho, joh Heeramandi ki likhaai mein missing hai.
I found it nearly impossible to find Heeramandi’s heart, its pulse, what did the show want to invoke n me after I surrender to the beauty? After a point, once the set up and hierarchies become familiar and well established, it was difficult to care about any of it, beyond their importance as decoration.
Manisha Koirala as Mallika Jaan hain is show ki nucleus, the power source. Aur harr scene mein the actor embodies the complex character fully, with every muscle of her being. Mallika Jaan is unaware of her own shortcomings, her entitlement and narcissism threatening to become her downfall. But even with Manisha Koirala’s formidable presence, Mallika’s conflicts and complications mostly open, but don’t close. Unki beti Alam Zeb ko tawaif nahi banana hai, par who shayar ban-na chahti hai, the promise is ki this will become the central conflict. But quickly focus move hokar puraani behen par jaata hai jiski aulaad badla aur mahal dono lene waapas aa gayi hai, so for large swathes Alam Zeb aur Mallika ki tussel ko bhool him Fareedan ki chaal mein ulajhte hain. Par kyunki Mallika thrives in drama and has no chill, for a brief bit she gets overtly involved in a one house help ki love life, goes OUT of her way to send her lover to prison, oh also we were just introduced to her son who she had to give up 25 years ago, an incident that started her on this path to begin with.
Maana ki aajkal dekhne waalo ke attention span chote hain, toh har kuch minuton mein naye bump ki zaroorat hai, par Bhansali ki film ko, ya is show Tik Tok se compare toh nahi kiya jaa sakta na. Jiss long drawn, deep, involved, aur gehre drama ki ummeed mein show shuru kiya tha, who zaroorat poori hoti nahi.
Sonakshi Sinha, in a double role, is Mallika’s sister and niece, her main rival. Fareedan wants to destroy Mallika by all means. She steals nawabs, real estate, confidants, even her daughter, but at one point when her goal seemed to be close to being accomplished, she has a change of heart because we’re now in the penultimate episode and khuli hui kahaaniyon ke taar judte nazar nahi aa rahe hain toh jaldi se us conflict ko resolve kar diya
Like Manisha, Sonakshi too is immense on screen, towering, intimidating, scary and smart, and yet caught amid too many sub-plots, never quite escapes the frames to become a real character.
Which brings me to one of my favorite performances on the show — Richa Chadha. Doosri performance kaunsi hai, abhi bataati hoon, pehle Lajjo ko dekhein aao. For once, playing a character who isn’t out to save anyone, except her own broken dreams, Lajjo Shahi Mahal mein outsider hai. Addicted to alcohol and the idea of love, Lajjo is the embodiment of the waning Tawaif culture. Nawaabon ne thukra diya, angrezon ne badchalan ghoshit kar diya, toh ek last hurrah ke saath khud hi aag mein jal gayi, metaphorically. Of all the solo songs on the show, I don’t think the one filmed on Richa is probably the most memorable as a song, but her drunken dancing, laughs, and Mallika Jaan’s last attempt to rescue her, all within this one performance piece are the most impressive, most effective portions of the show.
Before I talk about my second and actually even third favourite performance, come help me demystify Alam Zeb, arguably the second lead of the show, played by Bhansali’s niece Sharmin Segal. To play the matriarch’s daughter, who is crucial in setting off the entire chain reaction, is a very VERY difficult task, jisein majhey huye, ache, diggaj actors poora na kar paayein. Unfortunately Sharmin, who looks stunning beyond belief, is just so terribly miscast, it’s sort of sad to see a very very good Taaha Shah Badussha try to bring their scenes together to life. Coy, angry, devastated, hurt, relieved….in all the ras, Alam has the same look of borderline boredom. Sure, I get the “I didn’t sign up for any of this”, but when you see her be the same way with Farida Jalal as she is when caught in a mob of protestors, one can’t help but feel a niggling frustration at being served this when the promise was that of something moving, invigorating.
Second favourite, I just mentioned is Taha Shah Badusshah, as the chhotey nawab who’se returned from vilayat to learn ki padhayi likhayi ka koi fayad nahi agar gulam ban kar hi jeena hai. It is a valiant effort. Every scene he’s in, are held together, just like Manisha and Sonakshi, by his sheer screen presence. You want royalty? Royalty is what you get!
Jayati Bhatia as Phatto, one of Mallika Jaan’s ladies in waiting, is the 3rd and last one on my list. We’ve seen Jayati in TV shows for years now, but never quite like this. Through the unwed virgin Phatto, her partner Satto and their group of people you see a whole different side of Heeramandi, the service people who served dual masters, the British and the rich Hindustanis, jinki peeth par poore raaj paat khade the. Phatto wants self determination, but is brainwashed into a sense of loyalty. If there was to be a Heeramandi spinoff, Better Call Satto has my vote.
Considering the time, talent and expertise that went into making Heeramandi, and there is a TONNE of work here, the show only fully manages to come into its own, after resetting about 5 times, in the final episode. I won’t reveal what leads up to this point, but to see the tawaifs young and old march up to British prison where a firing squad is about to assassinate one of their own, singing songs of a Azaadi gives me goosebumps to even think about right now. We finally get a solid glimpse into the cultural decline of the era, a country on the cusp of change, highlighting even further the missed opportunities for deeper exploration. We are told over and over, Tawaifs are artists and not sex workers, yet not once do we see them take dance lessons, do kisi kism ke shastriya sangeet ka riyaaz, imply how hard they work at their craft. Fareedan aayi toh seedhe mujre par baith gayi, par seekh kar kya aayi aisa joh Mallika ya Bibbojaan ko khatra ho unki kala se, yeh kabhi pata hi nahi chala.
Sanjeeda Sheikh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Fardeen Khan, even Pratibha Ranta, all slip in and out of these larger stories, almost without notice. Waheeda, the character Sanjeeda plays is particularly underwritten, and the actor, despite trying very very very hard, is just not able to elevate a role that doesn’t do justice to her to begin with.
Bookended by two incredible songs, Sakal Ban and Humein Dekhni Hai Azaadi, Heeramandi binge watch karne ke liye nahi bani hai series, aur main hidaayat bhi nahi doongi iski. Araam se, lutf lekar, ek ek episode 2 din mein dekhein, toh screenplay ki habta-tabdi shayad nazar na aaye. Give yourself the space and time to enjoy Sonakshi’s sarees, farida jalal’s party décor, the smell of roses emanating from Manisha koirala’s long hair, Urdu ke jitney alfaaz maloom hain, sab istemaal mein le aaiyein, kathak ki classes dobara shuru kar dein. Sanyam se dekhein, aur comments mein bataayein kaisi lagi series.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, Heeramandi is……ek single cinematic tear roll down cheek shot kitni baar ayaa show mein, yeh bhi count karke bataana neeche jab dekhoge.
