Sanjay Leela Bhansali Reveals He Almost Lost Heeramandi To David Dhawan ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia; IMDb )
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has created and held on to his niche in the Hindi Film Industry for a long time. The Bajirao director is known for his magnanimous storytelling style, whether in costumes, music, or grand sets. Over the years, the director has taken slow steps, but with his latest OTT debut, Heeramandi, he has gone out of his way to bring his grand Bhansali magic to a story told over eight episodes. And while Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known to sprinkle humor in his work, they are not slapstick comedy pieces like David Dhawan. Both directors are masters of their genres, and no one has ever thought of a crossover between them, but it has almost become a reality. SLB recently shocked fans when he revealed that he nearly lost Heermandi: The Diamond Bazaar to David Dhawan. Here’s how he had to win back his writer, who threatened to take the project to Dhawan.
SLB recently opened up about the conception of Heeramandi and how he kept delaying the show, “Aditya Pancholi brought Moin Beg to my house and said he’s written something special and only you can make it. I said there’s nothing like that.”
Bhansali reflected that he just finished filming Devdas at the time. He decided to create Black rather than starting work on Heeramandi. It also revealed that the writer of Heeramandi Moin would always follow up. He said, “Whenever I announced a new film, Moin would call me. ‘You are not making Heeramandi? Now, you’ve started another film. You’ve started Ram-Leela! Now you’ve started Bajirao Mastani! And now, you’ve started Padmaavat!’ Then he just threatened me that he’d take the script away and give it to David Dhawan,”
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After Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s CEO, gave the project the go-ahead, Bhansali decided to produce Heeramandi. This brief five-minute meeting was held in Los Angeles prior to the release of Gangubai Kathiawadi.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali said, “The script would come out every 2-3 years. But I always said to myself that this is very big. It needs a lot of time – 3,4 or 5 hours. Luckily, when this format (of OTT) started opening up and becoming popular, I thought maybe this is the right place to make Heeramandi.”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi premiered on Netflix on May 1. The series features the lead roles of Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Sharmin Segal. Farheen Khan, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman, and Adhyayan Suman all play significant roles.
His next project is Love & War, which stars Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, and Vicky Kaushal. SLB recently gave an update on the film’s soundtrack in an interview, revealing that he has written a song for it. The movie was officially announced in January 2024 and will be released on Christmas 2025.
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The post Heeramandi, But Directed By David Dhawan? Sanjay Leela Bhansali Reveals How He Almost Lost The 200 Crore OTT Series To The Coolie No. 1 Director! appeared first on Koimoi.
