At the launch of the trailer for Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, which Netflix has billed as "India's biggest cinematic series", the international streaming giant pulled out all the stops to promote one of 2024's most anticipated shows-and also Netflix India's most expensive outing till date (made at a rumoured budget of Rs 200 crore)-giving a sneak peek into the world its creator Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) has conjured. The event, held at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi in early April, saw the main conference hall at the hotel being converted into a bazaar, with stalls offering gajras (garlands made of mogra flowers) and attar (perfume). In one corner, two women dressed in rani pink (hot pink) ensembles helped attendees pick Urdu poetry to send to a lover or a dear friend; another corner had an exhibit displaying the embellished costumes designers Rimple and Harpreet Narula have created for the show's six leading ladies. Bhansali himself was missing, but the rich cast-Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Shekhar Suman and Fardeen Khan among them-along with Netflix India VP Monika Shergill and Bhansali Productions CEO Prerna Singh, waxed eloquent about him enough to remind everyone that the court belonged to one man and one man alone.
Four years in the making, the eight-episode series about the life of six courtesans in the backdrop of India's freedom struggle dropped on the OTT platform on May 1. With all the synchronised classical dances and angst and broken hearts in the story, Bhansali has called it his tribute to Kamal Amrohi's Pakeezah, Mehboob Khan's Mother India and K. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam. As Bollywood biggies avoid cinemas in May owing to the ongoing Lok Sabha election, Heeramandi has become the de facto biggest release of the month.
Jewel in the Pack
Denne historien er fra May 13, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 13, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS
