The peak of director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s maximalist cinematic style can be found in his first streaming series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar on Netflix. The largest Indian original series that Netflix has ever created, the show takes place in the world of courtesans and noblemen who resided in the actual area of Hira Mandi in pre-independence Lahore. The neighbourhood, which is near to the Badshahi Mosque, was a centre of culture in the years preceding independence, but it has since seen drastic changes.
A longtime area resident provided insight into the neighborhood’s changes over time in a recent BBC report. “Hira Mandi has experienced numerous stages. It altered throughout the Sikh era, changed during the Mughal era, and changed once more under the English rule. And it changed once more with the Partition. Hira Mandi is now a food street, thanks to the government. The women who had resided here have moved out, and their families now make their homes throughout Lahore. All of the women who had resided here departed when the bazaar closed in 1990, according to Ibrar Hussain, a local.
