Bollywood Movies Like Netflix's 'Heeramandi'

Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali recently shared in an interview that his Netflix series 'Heeramandi' is an ode to Bollywood classics like 'Mughal-e-Azam' and 'Pakeezah'.

Here are some Bollywood films that represent the stories of courtesans like 'Heeramandi'.

Mughal-e-Azam

Image source: @IMDb. 

This Bollywood classic from 1960 features Bollywood's tragedy king Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in leading roles.

The film is about the tragic love story of Mughal Prince Salim (who became Emperor Jahangir and a courtesan named Anarkali).

'Mughal-e-Azam' became the highest-grossing Indian film during its time and remained so for fifteen years!

The film received one National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. 

'Mughal-e-Azam', like 'Heeramandi', represents the life of a courtesan in a royal court and the struggles that come with it. 

Pakeezah

Image source: @IMDb. 

'Pakeezah' is a romantic drama film that starred Meenakumari in the lead role of Sahibjaan, a Lucknow-based courtesan. 

The film became the highest-grossing Hindi film of that year and is well-known for its long production time, which was 15 years.

'Pakeezah' details the love story of the courtesan Saahibjaan and Salim, which is filled with various obstacles because of Saahibjaan's profession, which is similar to Bhansali's 'Heeramandi'.

Umrao Jaan 

'Umrao Jaan' is a 1981 period musical drama film which features Bollywood's legendary actress Rekha. 

'Umrao Jaan' is about a courtesan in Lucknow and how she rose to fame. The film also features the struggles of a courtesan like 'Heeramandi'.

The film received widespread critical acclaim and was one of the highest-grossing films of that year. 

The film received four National Film Awards including the award for Rekha's magnificent performance. 

Devdas

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Devdas' depicts the life of a courtesan with one of the leading roles played by Madhuri Dixit.

Dixit plays the courtesan Chandramukhi who falls in love with Devdas and has an important confrontation with Kalibabu after he humiliates her publicly. 

With this confrontation, Chandramukhi takes a stand for herself as a courtesan, which opposes the submissive stereotypes associated with courtesans similar to what is depicted in 'Heeramandi'.

These are some of the films that represent courtesans like 'Heeramandi' does!