When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos came down to have a conversation with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the launch of his forthcoming web series on Netflix, Heeramandi, he was honouring one of India's greatest filmmakers. Deeply influenced by Parsi theatre and India's song and dance tradition, Bhansali is the last of the believers in big is beautiful. Which may explain why at 59, his movies have remained spectacles, rather than intimate stories on a small scale. The last of the pure filmmakers, he relies on his imagination rather than on VFX, and believes in the grandeur of big sets and bigger emotions like K Asif, Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor. He is also one director whose movies are much wanted by heroines because he showcases them as never before. Naturally, expectations from Heeramandi are high given it has some of Bollywood's most beautiful women, from Manisha Koirala to Aditi Rao Hydari to Sonakshi Sinha—it also stars his niece, Sharmin Segal. After the kind of reception RRR got, Netflix is keen to cash in on Hollywood's interest in India. According to Sarandos, "India is the fastest growing Netflix market in the world this year and because of that, we're able to continue to invest in great storytelling." Heeramandi could be what Abhishek Varman's poorly executed Kalank (2019) was not, a period piece set in Lahore in pre- Partition India which focuses on the adventures of a group of courtesans. The writer Moin Beg came to Bhansali with the idea 14 years ago but every time he was making other films, such as Devdas (2002) or Bajirao Mastani (2015). When he wanted his script back, the series finally got made. Bhansali has a particular fondness for eternal outsiders, whether they are courtesans (in Devdas, Saawariya in 2007, last year's Gangubai Kathiawadi and now Heeramandi) or the disabled (Black in 2005, and Guzaarish in 2010). Heeramandi is Bhansali's second international moment—the screening of Devdas at the Cannes International Film Festival put Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on the map as a beauty to watch out for.

Ashish Vidyarthi

Still Standing at 57

Reign of Evil