Heeramandi – Were Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan the original choices of Sanjay Leela Bhansali? Filmmaker reveals it all

After all the hype, ultimately, the day has finally arrived for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Heeramandi to be released. And the day is today! Just a few hours before the grand gala release of Heeramandi, the filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali made some startling revelations about the starcast of the series.

"Rekha, Kareena and Rani were my first choices for Heeramandi." - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
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In an extremely interesting discussion with the famous YouTuber Lilly Singh, which happened Los Angeles during the series’ premiere, the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam filmmaker was asked whether the present cast were the first choices. As an answer to this question, Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed that the series was planned as many as 18 years ago, and as a movie!

Also Read: 5 reasons to watch Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Heeramandi

Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed that, at that point, it was 'Rekha ji, Kareena and Rani Mukerji!' In the same breath, he said (read ‘revealed’), the aforementioned choice of actors, then, got changed to another cast. And this time round, the cast were the Pakistani actress Mahira Khan with another two Pakistani actors Imran Abbas and Fawad Khan, but, that too, changed!

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, stars a plethora of stars, thus making it a multi starrer series of the recent times. For the unversed, Heeramandi stars a host of actors including Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Manisha Koirala, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Sehgal. Besides them, the series also stars Shekhar Suman, Adhyayan Suman. Fardeen Khan and Taha Shah Badussha.

Also Read: This is why Aditi Rao Hydari was moved to tears after Sanjay Leela Bhansali spoke about the world of Heeramandi

Besides the spectacular storytelling and direction, the music of the series is definitely one of the highlights. Tracks like Tilasmi Bahein, Sakal Ban, Azadi have already been appreciated by many.

One of the earliest people who had got to see Heeramandi was Genelia Deshmukh, who, after watching it, took to social media and posted “Just saw 2 episodes of Heeramandi and it has me craving for more. What a world, what a journey you take us through to Sanjay Sir. Mesmerised as always. Loved, loved, loved the entire cast and what a super effort by the crew too. Netflix, this is truly special”.

The much-awaited grand premiere of Heeramandi will happen today (May 1) at 1 pm on Netflix.