Manisha Koirala on Heeramandi The Diamond Bazaar: 'I Have Seen Sanjay Leela Bhansali Grow as Maestro'

It was great to reunite with Sanjay Leela Bhansali after a gap of 25 years, actor Manisha Koirala said on Thursday as Netflix India unveiled the character posters of the filmmaker’s ambitious web series “Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar”.

Koirala, who plays Mallikajaan in the upcoming eight-part period drama set during the freedom struggle movement in India, worked with Bhansali in his feature directorial debut Khamoshi: The Musical (1996). At the Next on Netflix India event, the actor said Heeramandi has turned out well and the team is “dying to show it” to fans.

“We all have tried to do our best because we were working with a master. To be working with Sanjay 25 years after his first film, Khamoshi, it can’t get better than Heeramandi. It’s been a humongous journey, I’ve seen him grow as an artist, as a maestro, as a genius, he is India’s best, he is the greatest filmmaker in India. We are lucky to be working, sweating and trying to perfect our act,” Manisha said at the event.

Billed as a visual odyssey, Heeramandi brings together a powerhouse of talent and a magnificent world promising to immerse audiences in a tale of power, love and freedom set against the backdrop of pre-independent India.

Heeramandi also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Sanjeeda Sheikh.

Sonakshi said she loved collaborating with Manisha and she learned a lot from the actor. “Manisha is such a wonderful person. The body of work that she has behind her, the work that she has done and the films of hers that we have seen. She is so respected, stunning, beautiful, elegant, just wow! But keeping that aside, when I worked with her, I realised, she is a beautiful person, just the way she conducts herself on set. Watching her and being with her in the same frame was such a pleasure. I hope I can do it soon. It was an honour working with her,” said the actor, who plays Fareedan in the show.

Richa Chadha said anyone can create beautiful costumes but only Bhansali can make an actor take eight rounds, sit and aesthetically drop a tear from the left of one’s eye while wearing a lehenga worth 30 kg. She plays Lajjo in tjhe series. “I met Rani Mukerji and (she) said ‘Till you work with Sanjay Leela Bhasali, you don’t know your own potential’,” she added.