Sonakshi Sinha is gearing up for the release of Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. (Photo: Instagram)
Ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, Sonakshi Sinha shared that she always wanted to play a villainous character.
Sonakshi Sinha has been in the entertainment industry for over 14 years. Last year, she transitioned to OTT with Reema Kagti’s Dahaad and is now set to appear in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut OTT show, Heeramandi – The Diamond Bazaar. This marks a significant departure for Sonakshi as she will be portraying a dark and negative character for the first time, reminiscent of the kind of roles her father, Shatrughan Sinha, started his career with.
During an nterview with ETimes, Sonakshi expressed her excitement about taking on this challenging role, mentioning that she has always aspired to portray a villainous character similar to her father’s early roles. She emphasized her desire to diversify her acting portfolio by taking on different and strong female roles. Sonakshi sees Heeramandi as a validation of her choices and expressed gratitude to Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the opportunity.
She shared, “I always wanted to play a villain, like a dark character because that is how father began his career with and it has been on my bucket list. I just want to play good characters and different roles and that has been a consistent effort from my side. For the last few years, I have been choosing different roles to play on screen- like strong female roles and that is what I want to be remembered for and Heeramandi is a huge stamp of approval, thanks to Sanjay sir,”
When questioned about the fear of being typecast, Sonakshi dismissed the notion, highlighting the abundance of diverse roles being offered in the current OTT landscape. She sees this era as an exciting time for artists, where various types of content are being embraced. Sonakshi emphasized her commitment to following her heart, learning from her experiences, and embracing the journey of evolving as an actor without the fear of being pigeonholed into specific roles.
“Not at all, there are too many different types of roles being written with the boom of OTT and today any kind of content is acceptable .. It is a wonderful time to be an actor, director, writer .. a creator. So I don’t fear being typecast, I never have, I never will. I do what my heart says and I’ve played the roles I want to play. I’ve made my mistakes and learnt from them. I will probably make more mistakes but that is part of life and I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” she explained.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is set to stream on Netflix on May 1. It stars Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal and Sanjeeda Sheikh. Shekhar Suman, Fardeen Khan and Adhyayan Suman also play pivotal roles. The historical drama series takes viewers to a time when courtesans served as monarchs. The series explores the cultural realities of the namesake district of Heera Mandi through the stories of courtesans and their patrons, set against the volatile backdrop of India’s Independence struggle in the 1940s.
