Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Netflix series Hiramandi is in the news these days. The film is a story of the pre-independence era. It will have stories of the lives of prostitutes of Hiramandi area of Lahore. Earlier, Alia Bhatt starrer film Gangubai, set in the backdrop of the red light area, has received a lot of praise. Bhansali's movie Devdas also had a courtesan Chandramukhi in an important role. Brothels and red light areas are depicted with great grandeur in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's films. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has told in an old interview what is the reason for his special attachment to this subject.
Bhansali has lived near the red light area
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has once again worked on a sensitive subject. His upcoming project Hiramandi is being watched on Netflix. This series is the story of Pakistan's red light area. In Sanjay's films, the life of prostitutes has always been shown with great sensitivity. He has told the reason for his association with this subject in a conversation with Film Companion. Bhansali had told that he grew up in a chawl near Kamathipura, Mumbai's red light area. He has seen that area closely in his childhood.
I haven't forgotten that thing from my childhood
Sanjay Leela Bhansali had said, you become sensitive to what you see in childhood. He has seen sex workers selling themselves to clients for 20 rupees. Sanjay says, how can a human being be worth 20 rupees? There were some things that remained in my mind. But I could not say them properly. I search for them through Chandramukhi… We are priceless, we cannot be priced. We cannot be sold for 5, 20 or 50 rupees. This is inhuman.
The pain behind the makeup
Bhansali had said, when you go to school every day and are sensitive to see all this… but there were countless stories on their faces. They used to wear a lot of makeup. They used to apply a lot of paint and powder, look at their sadness. How can you hide that sadness? You can't hide it. Even the best makeup artist can't do this. Those are the moments, as a filmmaker, these are the ones that matter. Talking about Hiramandi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has told that Moin Baig had brought the script of the film to him 14 years ago. Bhansali was busy with other projects so he couldn't work on it.
