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Veteran filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali opened up on the pivotal presence of tawaifs (courtesans) in all his work, including the latest offering, ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’.
Be it Madhuri Dixit’s Chandramukhi from ‘Devdas’ or Gulabji (Rani Mukerji|) in ‘Saawariya’, Alia Bhatt as ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ or very latest, the six courtesans of ‘Heeramandi’, tawaifs or courtesans, have always played a key role in the stories told by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The veteran has now revealed the reason behind it.
In a new interview with an Indian media outlet, SLB shared that it is because he has always been fascinated by the specific figures and the stories they have to tell.
He said, “I feel they are women who have a lot of enigma, a lot of mystery. The courtesan, or the tawaif, or the prostitute… they are different, but they always exude a certain kind of power which I find very interesting to look at…”
“I found that very fascinating, that these women are very interesting. Where they sing, they dance. Where they express themselves; their joy and their grief in music and dance. They understand the art of living, the importance of architecture, the use of fabric, and the kind of jewellery they wear. They are connoisseurs of art,” the filmmaker detailed.
Bhansali continued, “Hum log kya hein? Hum log artist log hain. Usko ap samajhgir bolo, bhand bolo… jo chahe bolo. Mere ko to woh chahiye (Who are we? We are artists. Whatever you might call them, I still need them). I have to create something that is very enigmatic. As a child, all those people that would pass by… mein school mein jaata hu toh ye chehre mujhe fascinate karte he. Waha pe jo ration ki line mein jo chaar middle-class housewives khade hain woh mujhe fascinate nahi karti (When I used to go to school, I was fascinated by those faces, rather than those four middle-class women in the ration line, they did not interest me).”
Notably, his latest web series also follows six courtesans, essayed by Sonakshi Sinha, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Manisha Koirala and Sanjeeda Sheikh, and their lives in the red-light district of Lahore.