Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has admitted that he once considered Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan for ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the pre-partition epic which is streaming on Netflix was reportedly 20 years in the making and crafted in Bhansali’s signature grand scale and attention to detail.
The filmmaker made the remarks that he once considered Pakistanis actors for Netflix series, however, the idea was later shelved.
“I had multiple castings in my mind, the idea has been there for 18 years,” Bhansali was quoted as saying. “I thought about Rekha ji and then Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. It was a film back then. I then also thought about Mahira Khan, the Pakistani actress, and Imran Abbas and Fawad Khan were also in my mind at one point of time. But I ended up with this ensemble cast.”
Set in pre-partition India against the backdrop of British colonial rule, the story of ‘Heeramandi revolves around courtesans living in the’ district of Heera Mandi in Lahore, (present-day Pakistan).
The series features Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, and Aditi Rao Hydari and has spurred several iterations of the classic tale in Bollywood through the years.
