Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his stellar OTT debut in 2024 with Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Recently, Aditi Rao Hydari, who played a significant role in the show, opened up about her challenges in bringing her character to life on-screen. She mentioned that the filmmaker asked her to be hungry before the scenes where she had to give rousing speeches in the show.
Aditi Rao Hydari sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and discussed shooting some of the most challenging scenes in Heeramandi. She mentioned two important mujra scenes in the film that differed from the dance forms she knew. So, getting those right and not disappointing Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a perfectionist, was challenging for her.
She described, “I had learned Bharatnatyam, but this was Kathak, and it was Kathak through the eyes of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is a perfectionist max and also knows a lot. And it was about getting it right and not disappointing him. That really gave me sleepless nights.”
The actress also shared that the filmmaker used an unusual method to help her emote raw emotions in scenes when her character gave powerful speeches. She revealed Bhansali made her skip meals to help her better portray those emotions that couldn’t come naturally. Aditi said she happily followed it because it improved her work, and his perfectionism inspired her to push herself and do better.
However, the Bajirao Mastani filmmaker also used the opportunity to tease the actress who played Bibbojaan in the show and mentioned she would bring a softness to those scenes otherwise. She explained, “I was struggling with these scenes, and he used to pull my leg that if I will ask her to give me a rousing scene, she will make it look like a shringaar scene. So he said, ‘don’t eat,’ and that’s how it happened.”
Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar by Sanjay Leela Bhansali featured an ensemble cast, including Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar Suman, Sharmin Segal, Taha Shah, and others. Moreover, Netflix renewed it for a second season, but details about it are kept under wraps for now.