Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut, the period drama ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, has become the talk of the town despite witnessing polarising reviews. The Netflix series has drawn a significant viewership on the streaming platform, and is now at the second spot on Netflix’s weekly top 10 list for non-English language shows in its debut week. ‘Heeramandi’ has now raked in 4.5 million views, with 33 million total viewership hours.
However, it cannot go unnoticed that the series has been facing flak for glorification of non-consensual sex and women’s suffering. And a lot of criticism has been targeted towards actress Sharmin Segal, Bhansali’s niece, who also played the key role of Alamzeb in the show. Since the series premiered on May 1, Sharmin has been facing backlash for her performance. After she ended up facing online trolling, Sharmin reportedly disabled comments on her Instagram account as well.
Speaking about the online criticism and trolling, Sharmin had admitted that there is a lot of pressure and sometimes, it does manifest in weird ways. Speaking during her appearance on the BBC Asian Network podcast, Sharmin said, “But I have a really good support system. I think my strongest support system is my sister. She also happened to be an assistant director on the show. So, it worked out in a way where I do have outlets where I can vent.”
She further added, “In my personal life, I am secure enough today to come home to my husband and put everything that I have done at work aside. But I am not that person who’s gonna constantly put that much pressure on it. Yes, I do want to prove myself; but today I am also a realist in that way. We live in a world of 1.7 billion people, in India itself (this is a figure Sharmin got wrong during the chat. As per UN data from last year, India’s population is around 1.4 billion). After all, how many people’s opinions are you gonna shape or have control over,” she asked.
Mentioning how she is a strong advocate for mental health and living a happy life, Sharmin asserted that she does not take too much pressure. “I do want to do what I want to do and I would love for everyone to love Alamzeb (her character). But, at the end of the day, there will be people who have to say what they have to say,” Sharmin signed off.
'Heeramandi' also stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal and Sanjeeda Sheikh.
