Accomplished Bollywood producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali has finally revealed regarding his ‘questionable’ decision of picking niece and Indian actress Sharmin Segal for the character ‘Alamzeb’ in his big hit movie Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, saying confidently: “Sharmin was the perfect choice for Alamzeb.”
It is pertinent to note that Sharmin Segal has been constantly making headlines for her ‘cold’ performance throughout the movie.
However, in an interview with India Today, Sanjay Leela Bhansali revealed that his niece, Sharmin Segal, has the perfect facial features that 'Alamzeb's character would require. The director stated that Sharmin's innocent and fresh face did proper justice to 'Alamzeb', who in the series didn't want to be or talk like a tawaif and wanted to break free with the pursuit of the will to pen down poetries. Sanjay Leela Bhansali mentioned: "She has a face of what Alamzeb should be - somebody who doesn't want to be a tawaif or has no makings of it. You needed somebody with very fresh, innocent quality to her, somebody who doesn't talk like a tawaif. And that person wants to break free with some pursuit of wanting to write poetry. So, I felt that Sharmin was the correct choice for Alamzeb."
Going further in the interview, Sanjay Leela Bhansali mentioned that he didn't cast Sharmin Segal just because she is his niece, but the actress, too, had to go through the grind. The filmmaker mentioned that Sharmin had to give a lot of auditions and tests, and that's when he cast her. Sanjay Leela Bhansali recalled how he had told Sharmin that she would have to go through the grind as she had never worked in a world like this. SLB stated that all the actresses had to work for a period of time to understand each of the aspects of the world of tawaifs. Sanjay can be quoted as saying: "I didn’t cast her because she's my niece. She had to go through the grind. There were innumerable number of tests and auditions. There was no end to the number of tests I've done with her. After I've decided to cast her, then I said you have to go through the grind, you have to get it right. Because this is a world, you've never been to. You've never acted in a world like that."
Earlier, in an interview with the Hindustan Times, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was asked about his niece, Sharmin's acting in Heeramandi. Talking about the same, the director added that the actress had already told him that she would underplay. Recalling his reply to him, Sanjay Leela Bhansali mentioned that he told her that he wouldn't let her overplay. The filmmaker also added that he is able to understand that the new-age actors love him and his craft.
While being on Kapil Sharma's Netflix show, Sharmin Segal was asked if she had to give auditions to bag the role in Heeramandi. To this, the actress mentioned that she had to give 16 auditions in the span of one year to bag the role of 'Alamzeb'. Yet in another interview, she was asked if she got any leeway for being the niece of SLB. In reply, the actress revealed that she was treated just like the other actresses on the sets.
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