Heeramandi Co-director Snehil Dixit Mehra on Vivek Agnihotri's Criticism: 'He Should Watch It First' | Exclusive - News18

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Last Updated: May 07, 2024, 01:26 IST

Heeramandi explores the lives of tawaifs who reigned like queens in the 1940s.

Snehil Dixit Mehra aka BC Aunty slams Vivek Agnihotri's claim that Heeramandi glorifies courtesans. She reiterates that the series has only adhered to facts.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest outing Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar has left the internet divided. While some have heaped praise on it, others have shared their reservations regarding the casting, the performances and the story. In fact, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri recently took to social media to express his disapproval of the series, citing that it glorifies the lives of courtesans when brothels are in fact 'monuments of human injustice, pain and suffering'.

In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Snehil Dixit Mehra, one of the additional directors of the historical drama series, reacts to Agnihotri's post and states, "I believe that he hasn't seen the show. Heeramandi isn't about the glorification of tawaifs. The show is set against the backdrop of the 1920s and the 1940s. At that time, tawaifs were ruling the roost."

Taking us through the research the writing team, along with Bhansali, went through, Snehil reveals that data showed that tawaifs were treated like 'queens' and reiterates Heeramandi rightly conveys what it had set out to. "We did extensive research before making the show. There was an insight that we found during our research which was that these tawaifs were so rich that even when they fudged their numbers, they were paying more taxes than the nawabs," she says.

She further continues, "They had a lot of wealth and power that they had a lot of influence over nawabs and politicians so much so that they would come to seek advice from these women. At that time, girls belonging to legitimate families were kept in purdah and weren't allowed to get taalim. But tawaifs had taalim on everything - they could learn art, read and write. They were very sharp women. They had a very powerful position in the society."

Sharing her stance on how the makers of Heeramandi have stuck to the truth rather than veering away from it just for cinematic liberty, she remarks, "With the freedom struggle and British trying to break the nautch girls, they lost their dignity in the process. This is the story we've chosen to say. It's not about the glorification of the tawaifs; it's just what the story is. He (Agnihotri) should watch the series first to understand what we're trying to convey."

Snehil, also a content creator, shot to instant fame with her videos, a take on middle-class Indian life, through the portrayal of a character named BC Aunty. Talking about how Bhansali reacted to her funny videos on the internet, she tells us, "He adores them. When I was interviewing for the job, he told me that I should have a sense of humour if I want to work with Bhansali Productions. I very proudly showed my videos to him and told him that this is what I do on the side. He laughed a lot!"

She adds, "At that time, he was making Gangubai Kathiawadi. He made me repeat BC Aunty dialogues to Alia (Bhatt). She was so amused and was like, 'What's going on? Who're these people?' Bhansali sir was very supportive of that part of my profile too!"

Titas Chowdhury

Titas Chowdhury is a senior sub-editor at News18 Showsha. She writes about cinema, music and gender in cinema. Interviewing actors and filmmakers, wri