Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji, Manisha Koirala played strong women characters in my films which I loved creating: Sanjay Leela Bhansali – Times of India

At the announcement event of ‘Heeramandi’, Bhansali spoke about how female characters in all his films were strong women. He also spoke about filmmakers who’ve inspired him to tell women-oriented stories. Bhansali said, “Be it Manisha Koirala in Khamoshi or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s character Nandini or Rani Mukerji in Black, these were all strong women who I loved creating. Every woman should be treated like a queen.”
The filmmaker further added, “Filmmakers like Bimal Roy sahab, Guru Dutt sahab, Yash Chopra sahab, or V Shantaram, they told beautiful stories of women. So, female characters are very important. If there is Bajirao, there has to be Mastani. Even in ‘Heeramandi’, these eight women will inspire and tell you how they fought situations. They will show how they lived with dignity. Even to a sex worker, dignity is very important.”

The filmmaker worked with Manisha Koirala in hi first film ‘Khamoshi’ and since then, has only made bigger and better movies. He collaborates with the actress again for ‘Heeramandi’. He further added, “All these women have performed beautifully in the film. I’m not boasting. Infact, a filmmaker is always insecure and that’s what drives him to work hard. I got ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ right so I work more hard now. The number of hours I worked on ‘Heeramandi’ is ten folds of the hours I worked on ‘Khamoshi’, because I want to give my best to the audience.”

The filmmaker said that ‘Heeramandi’ is to OTT what films like ‘Pakeezah’ or ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ are to cinema. ‘Heeramandi’ is an eight episode series which will release soon.