Exclusive: Heeramandi casting director reacts to Sharmin Segal being trolled: She has given her 100 per cent

Heeramandi casting director Shruti Mahajan talks about casting Sharmin Segal, who has been facing flak for her role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s web series.

Actor Sharmin Segal, who is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's niece, has been receiving flak for her performance in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Now, the web show’s casting director Shruti Mahajan has come forward to support her. In an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times, she says Sharmin is the right choice for the role, adding that it is unfair to troll her. ()

Shruti Mahajan feels trolling Sharmin Segal for her performance in Heeramandi is unfair.

In the show, Sharmin portrays the character of Alamzeb, the daughter of Mallikajaan, played by Manisha Koirala. The show also marked the foray of Sanjay in the streaming world.

Time to focus on the love

According to Shruti, there are a large number of people who have liked her work in the web series, which was released earlier this month. “People have liked her work also. It is unfair to her that we always want to talk about the negative. Our mind likes to attract negative thoughts,” Shruti tells us.

She adds, “There's a lot of positives that are being talked about her as well. Most importantly, as an actor, she has given her 100 per cent to the character. She is a very hard working actor. We should appreciate that and focus on the good”.

About Sharmin getting trolled

Sharmin made her OTT debut with Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Her performance has been under scanner, with a section of social media users wondering if she got the role because of her personal bond with Sanjay.

One user wrote, “Sharmin Sehgal had too much screen time for her abysmal acting skills. She can't act at all. Bad diction along with her lack of expressions ruined the entire experience,” while another one shared, “I think this web series was made to scam Netflix of some hefty payout and a relaunch pad for Sharmin”.

Ask her about it and Shruti clarifies that Sharmin had to undergo multiple auditions and tests before she was finalised for the role.

“She underwent the whole process just like other actors. The process for everyone was the same. They had to go through rounds of auditions, and look tests,” says Shruti, who has worked with Sanjay on Bajirao Mastani and Gangubai Kathiawadi.

Opening up about Sanjay’s brief for the role of Alamzeb, the casting director shares, “There are a lot of people who liked her voice, and acting. They have said that she looks fresh and brings newness to the cast. People say that she doesn’t seem to belong to the world of Heeramandi or part of the world of courtesans. But that was the brief. It was all about her not belonging to the world, and not feel like she is a courtesan. That’s what we kept in mind”.

“What you see is the cast of Heeramandi, and I am very proud of it,” she exclaims.

About Heeramandi

The Netflix show is set in the backdrop of the Indian independence revolution. The series showcases the clash between the courtesans of the red-light district of Heera Mandi in Lahore and the officials during the British Raj.

The series boasts an ensemble cast including names such as Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Shaikh, also including names such as Fardeen Khan, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman, and Adhyayan Suman.

“The brief that I got from Sanjay sir was that the actors should belong to that world. The world of Heeramandi which is larger than life. For the casting, we looked out of the box, instead of going the cliche way,” she said, adding that she is glad that it resonated so well with the audiences.