Richa Chaddha wasn't offered Lajjo in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, can you guess which role she would have ended up playing?

Heeramandi is finally out on Netflix and one can see Richa Chaddha get out of playing a baddie on screen. The actress is seen in the role of a lover (of course courtesan too) named Lajjo in the show directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She picked the role in order to break stereotype. Richa spoke about being approached for another role initially. Without revealing so, she hinted at them.

How did she hint at them?

The actress confirmed she was offered another role but ended up playing Lajjo by telling Pinkvilla, “I had been offered another part, one with more screentime for sure. But because an actor also needs to see what's in here that's new for me, I chose Lajjo.”

Why she ended up playing Lajjo?

Richa wanted to break stereotype. She spoke about experimenting with grey roles through Bholi Punjaaban in Fukrey franchise and Tara in Madam Chief Minister. Saying she wanted to surprise the audiences, Richa added, “I wanted to play the part of a hopeless romantic and leave the audience with goosebumps.” She went on to say that she was immediately drawn to Lajjo over other characters.

Richa hints at which character she might have ended up playing

By talking about grey characters, Richa did hint at which character she might have ended up playing. After watching the show, one can guess that she was either referring to Mallikajaan, eventually played by Manisha Koirala, or Sonakshi Sinha’s Rehana/Fareedan. Both the actors play grey characters on the show. Interestingly, Lajjo is Mallikajaan’s foster daughter in the series.

Heeramandi, which marks Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut, is now out on Netflix. The show stars Richa, Sonakshi, Manisha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Sehgal in pivotal roles with Fardeen Khan, Taha Shah, Farida Jalal, Adhyayan Suman and Shekhar Suman in special appearances.

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