Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is all set for his big OTT debut with his upcoming series, Heeramandi. The series will explore stories of courtesans, the hidden cultural reality of Heeramandi, a district in Lahore in pre-Independence India. The show will have all the trademarks of a Bhansali film, grand sets, elaborate compositions and a plethora of characters. Heeramandi promises to be stories of love, betrayal, politics and succession. Now the buzz is that the ace director has a bagged a huge deal of Rs.35 crore with Netflix for the project. However, according to a E-Times report, the news is far from truth. A source close to the project said to the portal, “Contrary to the reports in the media about Netflix allegedly paying Sanjay Leela Bhansali a certain amount of money for Heeramandi are completely baseless. No such discussion has taken place at all and these stories must be fact-checked.”
The cast of the web series has not been revealed. Bhansali spoke to Variety and said, "It is a huge saga about the courtesans of Lahore, it is something I was living with for 14 years. It’s very vast and ambitious."Heera Mandi is known as the red light area of Lahore. It is located inside the Walled City of Lahore. It has been the centre of the city's tawaif culture since the 15th and 16th centuries. On Sunday, August 9, Sanjay Leela Bhansali completed 25 years in the film industry. His first directorial debut, Khamoshi: The Musical, was released in theatres on August 9, 1996. Many Bollywood celebrities took to social media to congratulate the 'magician' on his special day. While Deepika Padukone shared a long, emotional note for SLB, Alia Bhatt posted a behind-the-scenes picture with the filmmaker from their upcoming film Gangubai Kathiawadi.