Heeramandi S-2: They Dance For Producers Now

Veteran director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut Heeramandi released on May 1 and has consistently been ranked as one of Netflix’s most-watched shows since. Though the eight-episode series opened with mixed reviews, people all over the country have been hooked to the show, with Bhansali’s portrayal of the lives of tawaifs (courtesans) in Independence-era Lahore spawning discussions on everything between historical accuracy to aesthetics and nepotism. The makers of the show have announced on Monday that they will indeed be returning for a second season with a twist.

The first season of the show focused on the lives of courtesans in the Heeramandi area of Lahore. The series ends with the tawaifs participating in India’s freedom struggle movement, as they lose patronage from the nawabs.

Bhansali has been quoted saying that the second season will see the tawaifs move out of Lahore after India’s partition and shift to Bombay or Kolkata to work in the film industry, saying, ‘They leave Lahore after the partition and most of them settle in the Mumbai film industry or Kolkata film industry. So that journey in the bazaar remains the same. They still have to dance and sing, but this time for the producers and not for the nawabs. So that’s the second season we are planning, let’s see where it goes.’

Heeramandi starred Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Aditi Rao Hydari and Bhansali’s niece Sharmin Segal in major roles. The casting of Sharmin Segal in particular got the most criticism from viewers, with people unanimously criticizing her casting and her “expressionless face”. So, it comes off as no surprise that when the second season was announced, many netizens took to social media to declare that they do not want to see Sharmin’s character Alamzeb in the second season anymore.