Heera Mandi: Pakistani actor Ushna Shah says Bhansali’s series ‘mimics’ the culture of Pakistan

Heera Mandi, the upcoming mega-series of ace filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been recently objected by Pakistan actor Ushna Shah. She took to Twitter to oppose the story which is set in the backdrop of Lahore’s red light area. Showing her displeasure, she wrote that the series seems to be ‘mimicking’ the culture of Pakistan.

She further said that cultural collaboration is different from what the filmmaker has done with the project. “India has a plethora of rich cultures and history to film, this isn’t theirs to make!”, she slammed. She also wrote that mimicking the culture will make the project lose its ‘authenticity’. 

For the unversed, Bhansali’s Heera Mandi will narrate the stories of courtesans of Lahore’s Heera Mandi over the course of three generations. Promising the tales of love, betrayal, and politics, the series will have many Bhansali trademarks such as grand sets, diverse characters and wider compositions. In collaboration with Netflix, the project will also mark his first step on the web space.

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Netizens backed the director and shared their takes quickly after Ushna’s tweet. One of them was skeptical and asked her what she was trying to say, as the series is set in pre-partition India. The actor took time to clarify herself and wrote back that Heera Mandi was in Lahore, which is in Pakistan. It connects to the Mughal empire, which lays the basis to Pakistan’s history. She further tried to make it clear by comparing Bhansali’s project to a Pakistani director making a film on Mahabharata.