Heeramandi (2024) Series Review: Discovering the Beauty and Drama of the Story

 Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazar (2024)

Introduction:

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the creator and director of Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, a television drama set in India during the time of 2024. The show focuses on the life of tawaifs in Lahore's Heera Mandi, a red-light district, during the Indian independence fight against the British Raj. Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Manisha Koirala, and Taha Shah Badussha are starring.
On May 1, 2024, the series was made available on Netflix, to a varied reception from reviewers.

Cast:

Alamzeb

Sharmin Segal

Tajdar Baloch

Taha Shah Badussha

Fareedan

Sonakshi Sinha

Bibbojaan

Aditi Rao Hydari

Lajjo

Richa Chadha

Alastair Cartwright

Jason Shah

Mallikajaan

Manisha Koirala

Qudsia Begum

Farida Jalal

Waheeda

Sanjeeda Sheikh

Ustaad

Indresh Malik

Storyline:

Episode 1:

At Heeramandi in Lahore in 1920, Rehana, Shahi Mahal's authoritarian tawaif, loudly exchanges her younger sister Mallika's baby for an ornament. Mallika is upset and vows to exact revenge. Twenty-five years later, Mallika, also known as Mallikajaan, is given a gramophone by Gunther, an Englishman. She begs her to allow him to record Bibbo, her first child, but she rejects him. Mallika is now Shahi Mahal's unrestricted madam. Mallikajaan's sister Waheeda embezzles some of Bibbo's money. Mallikajaan announces her impending nath-utrai, or courtesan debut while dismissing her younger daughter Alam's lack of interest in becoming a tawaif. The Foster daughter of Mallika, Lajjo, is enamoured with her patron, Zoravar Ali Khan, and plans to wed him. After returning from Oxford, Tajdar Baloch, the learned son of Nawab Ashfaq Baloch, declares at a gathering that he detests both the British Raj and the customs of Heeramandi.

 The recently hired Superintendent of Police, Alastair Cartwright, approaches Mallika and requests one of her girls to perform at his private party. She vehemently declines his offer, arguing that Shahi Mahal will no longer be considered exclusive if its tawaifs attend a private party. To find out Mallika's secrets, a humiliated Cartwright seduces Ustaad, the eunuch pimp. As for Alam, she's a budding poet who meets him when she goes to a recital at Tajdar's house.

 While Iqbal and Saima, Mallika's maids, fall in love, Bibbo finds out from her patron Wali Mohammad that Samuel Henderson, the Inspector General of Imperial Police, may be giving instructions to shoot at first sight in response to the growing uprising against the British Raj in the streets. After Bibbo, her chief is shown to be a rebel as well, she offers Henderson a pistol and informs him of Henderson's plans. When Tajdar and Alam meet paths during riots, Hamid saves Tajdar from a police officer's bullet, but Alam vanishes.

Episode 2:

In a flashback, Mallika plans suicide by strangling an intimidating Rehana to death, with Zulfikar, her patron and love interest, helping her. However, Fareedan, Rehana's daughter, is left behind as a witness. The people who live in Shahi Mahal now honour Rehana on the anniversary of her passing. Waheeda approaches Mallika to obtain control of Khwabgah, the mansion that Nawab Sammi Ali gave to Rehana. Due to a claim made by Sammi's widow for Khwabgah's inheritance, Mallika postpones the benefaction. Mallika's servants Satto and Phatto talk with Iqbal and Saima about how Fareedan, who was nine years old, was brutally auctioned off by Mallika to a trader. In the meantime, Bibbo tells Lajjo that he is going to marry a noblewoman, discouraging him from placing any hopes on Zoravar. Lajjo verifies Bibbo's claim about his marriage when he encounters Zoravar in a club. After falling in love with Alam, Tajdar starts looking for her.

Lajjo is called upon by Zoravar to perform at his wedding, but she humiliates him by revealing her affection for him through her performance, which makes him treat her disrespectfully. Mallika stands up for Lajjo and denounces Zoravar, revealing that he is her son by birth, sold to a Nawab so that Rehana may adopt him. Mallika is devastated as Lajjo dies of sadness in the buggy as they drive away. Much to Mallika's astonishment, an adult Fareedan shows up at the burial and warns her that she will soon fall.

Episode 3:

An adolescent Waheeda appears in a flashback, claiming to have witnessed Rehana's murder. She demands Khwabgah from Mallika and threatens to imprison Zulfikar and her if she doesn't give it to her. Her face is scarred as an enraged Zulfikar attacks her. As of right now, Mallika and Waheeda have won the lawsuit against Fareedan, therefore they are in control of Khwabgah. However, Mallika has given the mansion to Sammi's family in violation of her pledge to Waheeda.

Still, Fareedan purchases the mansion from Sammi's widow and gets ready for her nath-utrai. Through Ustaad, Fareedan learns about Alam's argument with Mallika and Cartwright's resentment of the latter. Tajdar plans to join the uprising after attending a pro-independence event that Hamid is hosting.

Fareedan begins to dupe Alam under the pretext of uniting her with Tajdar. Further, she attempts to entice Wali and seduces Cartwright with an appeal to reopen Rehana's murder case. Intimidated by Fareedan's move, Zulfikar threatens Mallika to find and destroy a file of Rehana's case, which contains incriminating evidence against them. Mallika remembers asking Waheeda to stash the file but she claims to have burned it. Mallika opposes Fareedan's nath-utrai, remarking that women, who have lost their virginity, are not supposed to do so but she proceeds with it nevertheless.

Mallika arranges Bibbo's farewell performance, which requires the Nawabs to be present, in an attempt to prevent them from going to her nath-utrai. Fareedan is thus left despondent and alone on her special day.

Episode 4:

After seeing a distraught Fareedan, Wali decides to take her in. Saima's singing ability makes Mallika feel sad, so she chooses to sell her for ₹10,000 to an unidentified bidder named Wajid Ali. Iqbal starts gambling after making a pledge to earn the same sum in fifteen days to purchase Saima's freedom. When Mallika designates Feroz as Shama's patron in an attempt to placate him, Waheeda breaks down after disclosing her patron Feroz's interest in his daughter Shama.

Hamid, meantime, doesn't think Tajdar is genuinely committed to the cause. About Tajdar, Alam confides in Bibbo. Waheeda consents to testify against Zulfikar and Mallika in exchange for keeping Khwabgah away from Fareedan. When Ashfaq learns that Tajdar is a rebel, he advises him not to join the rebel cause, pointing out that their support of the British will maintain their social standing. Mallika has Iqbal arrested by the police on suspicion of gambling before he can obtain the money, while Bibbo uses a honey trap to trick Henderson into revealing the government's secrets.

Alam offers to have her nath-utrai performed in exchange for Mallika releasing Iqbal. Cartwright tortures Iqbal while he is incarcerated in an attempt to incite him against Mallika. Alam receives a false letter from Fareedan on the day of her nath-utrai, which she takes to be from Tajdar, requesting her to leave the ceremony. Saima gives herself over to her buyers, Wajid and Ali, who turn out to be two distinct persons, for Alam's sake. With Fareedan's assistance, Alam eventually flees, forcing a broken-hearted Mallika to cancel the celebration.

Episode 5:

When Alam first meets Tajdar at his house, she feels deceived; after learning of her ancestry, Tajdar rejects her and demands that she leave. He takes her in, introduces her to his family as a friend's sister, and then regrets what he did. Fareedan throws a wild party in Khwabgah to make fun of Mallika.

 Alam makes good friends with his paternal grandmother Qudisa Begum at the Baloch mansion, where she even considers marrying Tajdar. She also renews her friendship with Tajdar. Waheeda attempts to court Henderson as a patron, but she discovers he is having an extramarital affair with Bibbo. In an attempt to use the file against Mallika and Zulfikar, she tells Fareedan that she never burnt it.

 Ustaad tells Mallika that he sees Alam at the market with Qudsia. During the celebrations of Eid al-Fitr, Mallika visits the Baloch home and reveals Alam's true identity. After an argument about Tajdar's relationship with a tawaif's daughter, Ashfaq kicks him out of the house.

Episode 6:

Alamzeb and Tajdar reach Amrood Kothi, a bungalow that Tajdar's late mother left for him. Mallika sets out for Murree with Zulfikar, and Waheeda gets the file from Shahi Mahal and gives it to Fareedan. However, they have to wait fifteen days because Cartwright is said to have left the station. When Alam listens in on a chat between Tajdar and his friend, she learns that he is a rebel, but she also assures them that she won't stand in his way.

 When Fareedan commits murder and arson at a very young age, Zulfikar in Murree gathers evidence against her and informs Mallika that she is a wanted criminal. Once she gets back home, Mallika threatens Fareedan by showing her the evidence of her misdeeds, which makes her destroy the file. Waheeda, who has been duped by Fareedan, turns to Mallika in pain and begs for her pardon. When Iqbal gets released from prison, he finds out that Saima has fled. It is through Henderson that Bibbo learns the army has sent a shipment of Enfield rifles to Lahore. To divert the attention of the authorities away from the consignment, Tajdar arranges his wedding to Alam and throws a party on the same account as Hamid and his gang plan to plunder the ammo.

 As Fareedan, a party guest, investigates Amrood Kothi and discovers that Tajdar is a rebel, he departs to carry out the robbery. Following the ammunition's successful looting by Hamid, Tajdar, and his group, Fareedan informs Cartwright of the perpetrators and requests that he imprisons Mallika and Zulfikar in exchange. Alam is arrested on charges of rebellion by Cartwright, who raids Amrood Kothi on the day of Alam and Tajdar's wedding when the latter is away. Tajdar unwillingly gives a deposition at the police station against Alam after being coerced by Hamid.

Episode 7:

Mallika gets rebuked by Bibbo for letting Alam fend for herself. Impacted, Mallika goes to the police stations and consents to being gang-raped by Cartwright and his associates in return for Alam's release. But despite Cartwright's misbehaviour, Fareedan is discouraged and says that a woman would never want it for another woman. As Mallika begins to cry, Alam tells Bibbo that she is pregnant but that she doesn't want to be a hindrance to Tajdar's plans for the future. Bibbo later tells Tajdar that Alam is pregnant and chastises him for leaving Alam behind.

 Tajdar apologises for what he did and tells his father that he wants to marry Alam, and when he doesn't hear back from him, he leaves for Heeramandi with Qudsia to convince Mallika to approve of their union. Mallika consents to arrange their nuptials, but if Alam is late on the wedding day, she threatens to have his nath-utrai performed. Iqbal is devastated when Ustaad informs him of Mallika's horrible crimes and tells Satto, Phatto, and Iqbal that Saima has become a well-known singer in Calcutta. Fareedan is invited by Bibbo to Alam's wedding, and she conveys her happiness for Heeramandi's first marriage. To prevent the wedding from happening, Ashfaq informs the authorities of Tajdar's affiliation with the rebels and arranges for his temporary arrest.

In defiance of Ashfaq's expectations, Cartwright torments Tajdar to understand the specifics of his fellow rebels. Mallika begs Alam to get ready for her nath-utrai since the wedding procession hasn't arrived. When Fareedan learns that Tajdar has been taken into custody, he hurries the police station and begs Cartwright in vain to release Tajdar. After witnessing Tajdar's hopeless death from the torture, she goes back to Shahi Mahal and informs Bibbo of Tajdar's passing. Bibbo then halts the event and informs Alam of Tajdar's passing. Anguished Alam passes out.

Episode 8:

Alam goes to Tajdar's grave and laments his passing. Cartwright and Henderson tell Ashfaq that the rebels killed Tajdar to avoid being exposed. Mallika and Fareedan reconcile; the former asks Fareedan to be her successor. Bibbo hides her fellow rebels in Shahi Mahal with Mallika's help. Fareedan tells Wali that she is willing to sacrifice her life for the country's independence.

 Alam tells Qudsia that she is pregnant. After learning that the tawaifs had been supporting the rebellion, the Nawabs boycotted Heeramandi to appease the British government. While Heeramandi loses its pomp and splendour, Bibbo inspires the tawaifs to fight for the country's independence by stating that only they understand the value of freedom. Hamid and the rebels plot to kill Henderson, and Bibbo steps forward to carry out the mission.

She kills Henderson at the conference with a gunshot, but Cartwright kills Hamid and captures Bibbo. When Mallika finds out that Bibbo has been arrested and is about to be executed, she expresses her pride. On the day of Bibbo's execution, all of the tawaifs, led by Mallika, Waheeda, and Fareedan, march towards the prison in the middle of a tight curfew to show their support for the uprising. Under the guise of providing Cartwright intimate in exchange for money, Alam visits him in the meantime and, in retaliation for Tajdar's death, shoots him down with a handgun that Ustaad gave him. Somewhere else, the tawaifs succeed in reaching the prison, where they declare "Inquilab Zindabad" as Bibbo, satisfied, is shot and hanged.

Release Date:

The show's teaser was made public in February 2024, and a Netflix release date is scheduled for later that year. The announcement of the series' May 1, 2024 premiere date came the next month.

Trailer: