Now that Heeramandi has been released, we share eleven thoughts we had while watching it. Look out for future posts where we’ll do detailed reviews of each episode as well as of some of the costumes! Be warned, there’s spoilers ahead…

1. Stellar performances

All of the performances in the show were great (including the supporting cast), but in particular Manisha Koirala is magical to watch as the devious Malika Jaan! Her entry scene is particularly memorable.

2. Justice for Miss Lajjo!

Richa Chadha was shamefully underused in the series! Though she left a significant impact with her short screen time, Lajjo’s storyline definitely needed a bit longer to really absorb the audience. The writers could have easily delayed Lajjo’s death until the fourth or fifth episode to allow a bit more time for Lajjo’s delusions to really come to the fore. It would’ve been really powerful to see how Nawab Zorawar was gaslighting her, and her romantic disposition would have made her an ideal pawn for Fareedan to exploit/ make her complicit in Alamzeb’s escape perhaps.

Major props to Chadha for doing what she did with this limited role (including a mujra that will be remembered), but it could have been so much more! #JusticeforMissLajjo

3. How did Lajjo die?

Speaking of the writers doing Lajjo dirty, how did she die? It looks like she was offed by the carriage she was riding in hitting a pothole? Are we supposed to infer she drank too much and that killed her a la Devdas? Or did she consume poison before her mujra? The way it plays out was farcical and really undermined what could’ve have been one of the stronger storylines of the series.

4. Is Heermandi supposed to be a musical?

We get treated to three songs within the first twenty-five minutes of the series, which makes it seem this will be a traditional musical, but then we have to wait till the end of the second episode for our next musical number. The album of the show (also by creator SLB) is great, but there was scope to do more. Maybe another romantic song (they lean pretty heavily on the one such number Ek Baar Dekh Lijiye), or maybe a qawwali to underscore some of the tenser moments?

5. Meh mujras

While the soundtrack is reasonably strong, not all of the mujras have a huge impact. Aditi Rao Hydari and Richa Chadha have the best numbers, with both showcasing their fantastic dancing range with some wonderful choreography by Kruti Mahesh and others, however some of the later songs feel like the show makers ran out of steam a bit. Both Najariya ki Mari and Chaudhavi Shab could’ve been made more of, especially given there weren’t that many songs to begin with.

Also, it’s irritating that most of the songs were interrupted by dialogue – it almost feels like the show makers were worried about retaining an international audience’s attention span so wanted to break up some of the songs, but this just meant you don’t really get to fully enjoy the few musical numbers that there are.

6. Missed opportunities

Speaking of the music, there was a HUGE missed opportunity to have a mujra-off between Bibbo Jaan and Fareedan! The plot in episode three sets this up perfectly with Bibbo’s last mujra taking place on the same night as Fareedan’s first, so the writers had a brilliant opportunity to show them going face-to-face, or ghungroo-to-ghungroo.

7. Is Shahi Mahal the Hogwarts of kothas?

It’s unclear if the verandas in the two pictures above are supposed to be the same, but they appear to be located in the same part of Shahi Mahal, yet in some scenes there is a balcony with stairs on either side, and in others there’s a sweeping staircase without the balcony. Did the makers decide to change the set at some point, or does the kotha have the Hogwarts-like ability to change at will?

8. The Urdu dialogue is a treat but…

…there is some serious over-pronounciation of the “kh” sound which is closer to an “h” than a “k”. We get it, actors normally get slammed it for pronouncing “kh” words with a hard “k” but in some places it made it difficult to understand the dialogue, e.g., Malika Jaan saying “aj tak beta khone ka gham tha, aaj se beta hone ka gham rahe ga” which sounded like”aj tak beta hone ka gham tha, aaj se beta hone ka gham rahe ga”.

9. Motivation mysteries

One of the biggest problems of the show (and what ultimately undermines it) is the lack of clarity on why the characters are doing what they’re doing. Take Waheeda for example, she seems singularly focused on taking ownership of Khwabga, but then refuses when Fareedan tries to (eventually) hand it over. Or it’s never really explained why Malika Jaan dislikes the English to the point of insulting a senior British Officer (which will come back to haunt her later) in the first episode. Why does Bibbo care about the revolution? Who is Wali and why do we need to care about him? There was definitely a bit more consistency/ explanation needed of what’s driving the story arcs for each character.

10. School for tawaifs

We get a tantalising hint of Malika Jaan schooling the young tawaifs on what it takes to be a courtesan, but there was definitely scope to show more. Also, when do these women practice their singing and dancing? There’s reference to Alamzeb’s riyaz (singing practice), but it would have been nice to see it.

There’s a great scene in episode three where Malika Jaan and Fareedan apparently refer their beef to the Council of Phupis – who are this group? How did they come to be? All of this would have been fascinating to learn more about.

11. The costumes and sets slapped

When’s all said and done, Heeramandi was an absolute visual treat. The costumes and sets in particular were absolutely first rate and really transport you to that world. Hats off to Rimple and Harpreet Narula for the costumes and Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray for the art direction – it really is some of the best seen in Indian cinema.

What did you think of Heeramandi? Let us know in the comments!