Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s long awaited Netflix series ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’ is set during the fight for Indian independence, and follows the lives of several tawaifs, in the title district in Lahore. While the series looks incredible and replicates the period detail of Bhansali’s other critically acclaimed works, I would argue that the real life story of Heeramandi is far more interesting than Bhansali’s fictionalised version.
What the series does do well however, is shed light on a marginalised group in history. The complexities of tawaif’s, and their role in shaping the culture of India is often marred by British involvement, leading to the idea that they were mere prostitutes. This simplistic view lacks nuance, and although, I would argue that several of Bhansali’s plots are thin in this series, his establishment of the world of Heeramandi, and the impact its inhabitants had, is its strongest asset. Before we get into some of the dialogue, lets break down some of the terms that are used in the show.
Tawaif
A successful female courtesan who exclusively entertained the nobility, sometimes through dance, singing and theatre. They were regarded as cultured, and superior authorities and teachers in etiquette. Many considered them to be the ideal of womanhood. Their influence lasted until the 1980s.
Courtesan
Performing women, known for singing and dancing.
Nautch Girl
A term coined by the British, based on the Hindi word ‘nachna’ (to dance). Unlike tawaifs, nautch girls entertained men, women and children of all classes and castes on various occasions. Under the British Raj, they were branded as lewd and improper by the Victorian British elite and were forced into prostitution after losing their patrons.
Bhansali’s series really works to cement the importance and influence of the tawaif’s very early on in the series. In a pivotal scene in the first episode, chief tawaif Mallikajaan is offered a gramophone by a salesman, who explains that with this device, the music of the tawaifs can be transported and heard all over far and wide. Mallikajaan rejects him stating that the tawaifs at Heeramandi are ‘like the Moon, which can be seen through the windows, but it never enters.’
This simile implies the untouchability of the tawaifs, in beauty, mystery and status. They are visible to the naked eye, but their true complexity is unreachable, making them beautiful and mystical to the viewer. The physical position of the Moon, above our heads, cements the tawaifs status as above the common people and entertainers of Heeramandi, they are of a different class. The moon is not always visible, or available to us, and nor are they. Not everybody can afford the company of the tawaifs due to their high status and exclusivity. Their beauty can never be fully understood or obtained.
Their ‘performances are for connoisseurs of music, not merchants of music.’ Mallikajaan refuses to downplay and cheapen the tawaifs work, and emphasises the exclusivity and value of their craft. Mallikajaan describes the women at Heeramandi as the ‘queens’ of Lahore. That speaks for itself.
As well as this, their entrapment, and status as women in a gilded cage is also explored. Alamzeb, Mallikajaan’s youngest daughter, dreams of being a poet, not a tawaif. Her innocence and naivete throughout the series is slowly slaughtered, in part by those using her as a pawn in their power play, including her mother. To Mallikajaan, books are just hobbies, ‘anklets are the only way of life.’ Despite commanding the respect of the elite in Heeramandi, to others, the daughter of a tawaif is nothing more than that. Mallikajaan does not believe Alamzeb could be anything outside of Heermandi, her parentage will hold her back in an ignorant world. Mallikajaan claims that ‘here our destinies are written on our feet, not on our hands.’ Despite the control the tawaifs wield, it is still hampered by their position.
In the show, their freedom runs in parallel to Indian independence, and it is Bibbojaan, Mallikajaan’s daughter, that gets caught in the crossfire. After assassinating a British general at the end of the series, she is executed. When Mallikajaan’s adopted daughter, Lajjo, dies earlier in the season, Mallikajaan congratulates her on her freedom. At this time everyone in India is bound by something, their status as tawaifs, or their oppression by the British. It is only in death that any of them can find true freedom and escape these shackles. This might mean that in the series, everyone’s efforts for freedom are futile. Even after independence was won, historically we know that Partition caused serious bloodshed.
Historically, the status of the tawaifs was marred by British colonisers, who were both intrigued and repulsed by them. Realising the high influence that they had, the British set out to reduce their cultural and social status, which is accurately portrayed in the show. Eventually the tawaifs and nautch girls were deemed ‘unchristian’ by the British, which further reduced their status. In the British mindset, a tawaif was merely a prostitute with a different name. Tawaifs, like other Indians, also resisted British control and vied for their own autonomy. However, the British were successful in isolating tawaifs, forcing them to move into ‘black towns.’ These areas were disparaged by the British who resided in the opulent ‘white towns.’
The tawaifs also got caught in India and Pakistan’s cross cultural religious conflict. With the rising influence of Indian television in the 1990’s, Pakistan decided that female entertainers were more closely associated with India and Hinduism. Not only were tawaifs being shunned by the British, they were being shunned by the country in which they originated from. This led to a formal ban on female performers in 1998, imposed by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. And with that, tawaifs being to fade away from history and media. In 2022, Bhansali shed light in prostitution in India, in his 2022 film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi.’ The film features a star term from Alia Bhatt, and would say that those enjoyed Heeramandi would enjoy this feature equally if not more. It appears that Bhansali seeks to give a voice to these forgotten women, who were imperative in shaping the culture of India.
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