Sharmin and Indresh play Alamzeb and Ustadji respectively.
Indresh Malik defended Sharmin Segal and said that the masses sometimes realise what is a masterpiece much later and it’s all about the state of mind.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar has been in the making for several years. As per reports, Bhansali took around three years to make the series. In these years, the cast of the series grew closer and shared several memories together. Indresh Malik, who plays Ustadji on the show, recently came to Sharmin Segal’s defence after she was massively trolled for her “expressionless” performance in the show.
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Indresh said, “I had a blast working with her and she’s a wonderful soul. In between shots, we used to joke and, mark my words, she’ll go places. There have been masterpieces in history that the masses have rejected. After 10-15 years, people realise it’s a masterpiece. But when it was made and released, people rejected it outright there and then. So everybody has the right to criticise. You cannot stop anybody from commenting or criticising. So it’s all about your state of mind.”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali also defended Sharmin in a recent interview. Sanjay Leela Bhansali told India Today, “She has a face which is exactly what Alamzeb should be, somebody who doesn’t want to be a tawaif, she doesn’t talk like a tawaif, she doesn’t walk like a tawaif. Her face had innocence, whereas all the others had lived life, they had survived manipulation and mental games. You needed somebody with a fresh, innocent quality to her… I felt that Sharmin was the right choice for Alam not because she’s my niece.”
He continued, “She had to go through the grind. There were an innumerable number of tests, auditions. There’s no end to the number of tests I’ve done with her, after I’ve decided to cast her. I told her, ‘You have to go through the grind, you have to get it right, because this world you’ve never been to, you’ve never acted in. All these other actors have worked over a period of time, they’ve played characters like this and have understood all these nakhras and thumkas and the nazakat…’”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi was released on Netflix on May 1. Its stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Richa Chadha and Sharmin Segal in the lead. It also features Farheen Khan, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman and Adhyayan Suman in key roles.
