Culture & heritage
Heeramandi – A Netflix series
Jun
Heeramandi: The Diamond bazaar, is a 2024 lavish period drama from renowned Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
This Netflix series is the latest film production we have been watching and throroughly enjoyed, and so wanted to give an overview of this for anyone interested in exploring Indian film and TV.
It is set during the time of partition… in the lead up to the tension, danger and outbreaks that occurred as the violence of partition was taking place, and their way of life was about to be lost.
The series follows the elite courtesans of Lahore – The capital of pre-partition Punjabi – (now in modern-day Pakistan) as they lived and worked during the fight for independence from British rule in the 1940s. Think incredible clothing, intricate set designs and heart-wrenching love stories!
Heera Mandi is a neighbourhood and bazaar located in the Walled City of Lahore. It is specifically known as the red light district of Lahore, Pakistan.
The aesthetics of this series are extravagant, with stunning clothing, jewellery and elaborate backdrops to the song & dance. However, underlying the glamour, are serious social issues of deception, murder, illegitimacy, child abduction, betrayal…all ignited by the fact that all these occurrences are taking place during a time of political turmoil, civil unrest and uprising.
The courtesans of Lahore, (called “Tawaifs”), were classically trained perfomers, recognised for their skills, as not only beautiful singers and highly trained classical dancers, but as astute business women who were politically connected.
The access that these courtesans had to high ranking men, of all nationalities, meant that they were in a prime position to influence and take advantage of their power, to consolidate their position.
They would entertain the ‘Nawabs’ (powerful Princes/Sovereign rulers), as well as court the favour of high ranking British officers who were stationed in Punjab.
There is a short trailer on YouTube
The Plot
Here’s an overview to understanding the plot (as the first episode is quite fast paced)…
There are three sisters…Rehana, Mallika and Waheeda.
The eldest sister, Rehana, is the head courtesan/madam. The first episode opens with Rehana selling the child of Mallika (all done behind Mallika’s back), and herein start the lies and deception.
The story then jumps into the future when Mallika has two daughters, and the youngest sister Waheeda has one daughter, however the child of the late Rehana has survived!
We see how the Tawaifs have access to both the British and Lahori men who are dictating the political climate,
The Family tree of the sisters and their daughters…
Rehana (eldest sister)
Fareedan (Rehana’s only daughter)
Mallika (Middle sister)
Bibbo (Mallika’s eldest daughter)
Alamzeb (Mallika’s youngest daughter)
Waheeda (Youngest sister)
Shama (Waheeda’s only daughter)
Our family come from District Jalandhar, so as Sikhs, they were living on the ‘right’ side of divided Punjab. (Note – the correct spelling is actually Panjab. Many people including us, for our business name, choose to use the British spelling of Punjab, so that it would be prounounced correctly, as the letter ‘a’ is pronounced as a ‘u’). Within our own community we would write Panjab.
Partition is a topic that is not taught in school history, and seldom covered in the media. In 2017, on the 70th anniversary of partition, (1947, the same year as the disastrous attempts of the Palestine/Israel partition), the BBC ran a 6 part series with the stories and recollections from all religious perspectives. Episodes can be found HERE
There’s a reason that only Safia teaches the political and religious backdrop to our Indian Experience cookery workshop day, and not myself.
We are both children of two cultures, however for myself, as a first generation child of immigrants, having heard first-hand some of the the stories and the pain of partition from my mother, the stories are too near and the recollections of my then 15year old mother, too painful.
Safia as a child of the second generation, with 50% Punjabi Indian/50% British blood, is better placed to deliver the delicate and conflicting content of partition and the exit of British rule over India.
Safia and I binge watched this series and thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is, storytelling and entertainment with beautiful clothing, jewellery and interior design sets.
The series showcases a culture and lifestyle from a bygone era, and of course portrays the the painful history and politics of the time of pre-partition Punjab India.
As will be seen in the last two episodes of the series, with the portrayal of the actions of British soldiers, it should be remembered that education and knowledge, awareness and understanding are what matters, and never the apportioning of blame or the mistakes of a past generation on the current one.
As Safia says, before she talks about this era in our workshop, we do not do this to be inflammatory, as it is a sensitive topic, but merely to be aware of what lays the foundations to the connection between Britain and India/Pakistan…
…and it explains why Indian food came to Britain and is now so integrated into British society as well as being the most popular food in Britain 🙂
Watch the YouTube trailer HERE
