Heeramandi: SLB receives flak for casting niece Sharmin Segal

Several fans showed dissatisfaction over Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s niece Sharmin Segal’s acting in Heeramandi as they alleged the director of nepotism.

Making its debut on Netflix on May 1, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’s cast includes Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari and Richa Chadha, among others.

While several applauded the show’s production, music and overall acting of the cast, others expressed disappointment over Sharmin Segal’s acting, who according to them only got a part in the web series owing to her relations with Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Some viewers suggested that Segal who is portraying the role of Alam in the Netflix show failed to match her expression according to the scenes.

Others raised the issue of nepotism, saying that the actor was included in the series only because she was the niece of Bhansali.

“Sharmin Segal is the reason why nepotism debate exists,” one fan commented.

Another suggested that Bhansali could have given her a smaller role if he wanted to launch his niece.

One user pointed to the expression of the actor saying, “And she had this weird smirk on her face in certain scenes which just made zero sense given the context.”

“I guess even Bhansali who is such a perfectionist is blinded when it comes to his own family,” a dismayed fan wrote.

Earlier, Heeramandi was bashed for doing ‘injustice’ to Urdu language as Indian TV actor Zeeshan Khan highlighted the actors’ inability to properly pronounce Urdu words in their dialogues.

Taking to Instagram, he said that no one could speak Urdu word apart from Farida Jalal in Heeramandi.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali had earlier termed the web series the biggest project of his career.

“I’ve made big films, I enjoy making those big-scale films, and it comes naturally to me,” the veteran said. “But while shifting to digital with Netflix, I’ve taken it up a notch.”