Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first-ever streaming series, the period drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, has been the talk of the town despite receiving mixed reviews and even got a significant viewership on Netflix. With a whopping 4.5 million views and 33 million accumulated viewership hours, the show has listed in number two in the weekly top 10 list. However, the show is getting immense backlash as well for the perceived glorification of non-consensual sex glamorization of women’s suffering, and aestheticization of their pain. Amidst the cast, the actress who is getting the most criticism for her performance is Sharmin Segal, Bhansali’s niece who also played an important role in the show. Segal who previously disabled comments on her Instagram account now finally addressed the backlash on a BBC Asian Network podcast. Let’s check out the complete details of this story.
Sharmin said there’s a lot of pressure and sometimes it manifests in weird ways
The 28-year-old said in the podcast, “There is a lot of pressure and sometimes it manifests in weird ways. But I have a really good support system. I think my strongest support system is my sister. She also happened to be an assistant director on the show. So, it worked out in a way where I do have my outlets where I can vent.”
“In my personal life, I am secure enough today to come home to my husband and put everything that I have done at work aside. But I am not that person who’s gonna constantly put that much pressure on it. Yes, I do want to prove myself; but today I am also a realist in that way. We live in a world of 1.7 billion people, in India itself (this is a figure Sharmin got wrong during the chat. As per UN data from last year, India’s population is around 1.4 billion). After all, how many people’s opinions are you gonna shape or have control over,” Sharmin noted.
Sharmin continues, “In that way if I start taking all that pressure on myself… I am a very strong advocate for mental health and living a happy life. So, I do want to do what I want to do and I would love for everyone to love Alamzeb (her character). But, at the end of the day, there will be people who have to say what they have to say.”
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